


Another One

by The_Writers_Call



Category: Astro Boy (2009)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 09:51:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 44,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20598806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Writers_Call/pseuds/The_Writers_Call
Summary: After the events of the movie (the 2009 version), Dr. Tenma decides to create a robotic sister for Astro, who proves to be a piece of work. Astro soon realizes that he has to face his toughest challenge yet: dealing with his sister. Can he manage it?





	1. Chapter 1

Roughly three months after the battle with the Peacekeeper.  
Astro's POV:  
I gotta say. At this point, life couldn't get any better! Not only has Dad accepted me as his son, but my friends accept me as well! Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge don't care anymore that I'm a robot. I'm so glad! After Hamegg revealed to them that I was a robot, I was afraid that they wouldn't like me anymore or accept me. Luckily, it hasn't come to that, anymore.  
Speaking of my friends, they have all decided to move out of the Orphanage. Not only that, the other orphans did the same thing, even Trashcan. They've grown distrustful of Hamegg after the incident with the Robot Games, and they decided to leave him. Honestly, I don't know where any of them ended up. Except Cora, since she was reunited with her parents after the battle with the Peacekeeper.  
Speaking of the orphans, I'm suppose to meet Cora, Sludge, Widget, and Zane on the Surface. Honestly, it'll probably be kind of awkward, since none of us have been on the Surface since the day of the Robot Games. Unfortunately, none of them really know where anything is in Metro City, so that was the only familiar place where we could meet.  
Metro City was recently placed back into the sky again, probably so life can just return to normal. Honestly, Dad wasn't too thrilled to hear that I was gonna meet my friends on the Surface. It's not that he doesn't like or trust them (or the Surface, for that matter), but he's still not comfortable with it.  
Anyway, I've just landed on the Surface. Instantly, I realized that I didn't know exactly where any of them were. We never agreed on where on the Surface we would meet. Oh well, I can just fly above the Surface until I find them. They shouldn't be that hard to spot.  
After flying for a while, I was able to find Trashcan. Well, technically, he found me (I heard him barking). After landing, Trashcan rushed up to me, barking frantically.  
"Hey, boy." I greeted. "Do you know where Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge are?"  
Trashcan barked.  
"One of them fell?" I asked. "Where?"  
Trashcan started to run to show me. I was able to easily catch up to him. Instantly, I found Cora, Sludge, and Zane next to the hole that I originally fell into (where I first met them).  
"Hey, guys." I greeted.  
"Astro!" Cora cried. "Widget fell into this hole. Can you get her for us?"  
"Please help!" Widget's voice called from the hole.  
"Hang on, Widget!" I called.  
Upon instinct, I rushed into the hole to rescue Widget. I noticed her hand reaching out for me. Upon grabbing it, I realized that the hand was fake, with a cell phone taped to it.  
"Astro, help me!" Widget's voice said from the cell phone.  
"Huh?" I said. "Uh-oh."  
At that moment, a net wrapped around me. Struggling, I couldn't get out of it. I felt myself getting lifted up, and I fell to the ground.  
"Hey!" I called. Instantly, I heard laughter.  
The net came loose, and I was able to get out of it. Looking up, I saw Cora, Zane, Sludge, and Widget laughing.  
"Not funny, guys!" I said in annoyance.  
"Ah, c'mon Astro, it was pretty funny." Cora insisted.  
"Yeah, to you." I said. "I should have known that this was a trick. You guys did this before."  
"Yeah. You gotta learn not to trust people so much, Astro." Zane said, tossing a wrench at Trashcan. "All right, boy. You've earned this."  
I sent a glare at Trashcan as he started to chew on the wrench, then decided to change the subject. "So, what did you guys wanna meet for?"  
"Oh, nothing." Widget said. "We just wanted to see how you were doing."  
"Before getting entangled in that net, I was doing okay." I said, which caused them to laugh again. "Anyway, how are you guys?"  
"I'm okay." Cora said. "Just trying to get used to living with my parents again."  
"We're okay, too, Astro." Sludge said. "Widget, Zane, and I all got adopted. Now we live in Metro City with our new families."  
"What happened to the other orphans?" I asked.  
"As far as I know, they all got adopted, too." Zane said.  
"What about Trashcan?" I asked.  
"He's staying with Sludge and me." Widget told me.  
"I'm glad to hear it." I said. "Um, what happened to Hamegg?"  
"We don't know." Cora admitted. "ZOG helped us take Hamegg's car. When we returned it, Hamegg was gone. Even ZOG didn't know where he went. And I know what you're gonna ask next. ZOG is doing okay. He still lives on the Surface. He's trying to clean it up a little bit."  
"I should probably go visit him later." I said. "Should we worry about Hamegg?"  
"I don't think so." Cora insisted.  
"I wonder where he is now." Widget said.  
Third Person POV  
Elsewhere on the Surface.  
Hamegg was tied up to a chair. He was struggling to untie himself, but with no luck.  
"Where am I?" Hamegg demanded.  
"Your worst nightmare." Came a voice.  
Looking up, Hamegg saw three silhouettes come out of the shadows. Upon entering the light produced by a single lamp, three figures appeared: Sparx, Robotsky, and Mike the Fridge. The Robot Revolutionary Front.  
"Hello, Hamegg." Sparx said slowly.  
Hamegg sighed. "Oh great. The RRF. What are you gonna do to me this time?"  
"Anxious now, are we?" Sparx asked. "That's good. You should be."  
"Even though the Robot Games are now officially over, that doesn't mean we won't stop to free all robots." Robotsky insisted.  
"Uh huh." Hamegg said, obviously bored. "So what are you gonna do? Remember, you can't hurt me because of the Laws of Robotics."  
"We've found a loophole." Mike the Fridge insisted.  
"Bring out, the new secret weapon." Sparx ordered.  
Robotsky left, returning momentarily with a safe. He handed it over to Sparx who opened it. Upon pressing a button, the loud noise of a chainsaw was heard. Hamegg gasped.  
Sparx sighed in frustrated. "Can someone turn the TV off?"  
"On it." Mike the Fridge said. Heading over to a TV in the corner, he turned it off, silencing a chainsaw movie. Hamegg sighed in relief.  
"So what are you gonna do to me?" He asked.  
"You'll find out." Robotsky insisted.  
At that moment, Sparx pulled out a bucket filled with ice water.  
"The Laws of Robots state that we can't cause harm to a human." Sparx said. "But that doesn't mean that we can't soak you with cold water. We just gotta dry you off so you won't get sick. Then we can do this over and over again!"  
He, Robotsky, and Mike the Fridge all lined up in front of Hamegg.  
"Vive the Robot Revolution!" They said in usion, dancing around a little.  
"Oh, you have gotta be freakin' kidding me!" Hamegg thought to himself.  
Astro's POV:  
"I don't know." I told Widget. "And honestly, I really don't wanna know."  
"What should we do now?" Zane asked.  
"Well, we could-" Cora started to say.  
"Astro!" A voice said.  
Turning around, I saw Orrin. He was standing in front of our limo.  
"There you are!" Orrin said in his usual cheerful voice. "Your father wanted me to pick you up. He wants to speak to you in person at the Ministry of Science. Oh, who are they?"  
"These are my friends." I told him. "Cora, Sledge, Widget, and Zane."  
"Well, it's nice to meet you all." Orrin told them. "Anyway, Astro, we have to go."  
"All right." I said. "'Bye, guys."  
"See ya, Astro." Zane said.  
"'Bye, Astro." Sludge and Widget both said.  
"See ya later." Cora said.  
"Do any of you need a ride?" Orrin asked.  
"Nah, we're okay." Cora insisted.  
"All right, then." Orrin said.  
As we started to drive back to Metro City, I waved good-bye one last time.  
"What did Dad want to talk to me about?" I asked.  
"I don't know." Orrin told me. "It must be important if he wants to talk to you about it face-to-face."  
Roughly ten minutes later, we arrived to the Ministry of Science. Upon entering the laboratory, I saw my Dad talking to Dr. Elefun.  
I waited for my Dad to notice me. After a minute, he did.  
"Astro!" Dad said. "There you are. I've been meaning to talk to you about something."  
"What is it?" I asked, sitting down in a chair near the door.  
"Well, Astro." Dad said. "As you know, besides Orrin, you and I live alone."  
"Yeah." I said, not quite sure where this was going.  
"Well, Astro." Dad said. "I decided to create a robotic sibling for you."  
I couldn't contain my shock. "What?!"  
"I'm gonna create a robotic sibling for you." Dad repeated. "Would you like a brother or a sister?"  
I thought about it. "Honestly, I'd prefer a sister."  
"All right." Dad said. "I'm gonna try to make her similar to you. What I'm planning on doing is I'm gonna try to make her look like you so that she can actually pass as your sister. I'm also hoping to find a way to give her her own emotions. Just like you."  
"How are you gonna do that?" I asked. "You're gonna need another Blue Core to give another robot emotions."  
"Maybe not." Dr. Elefun insisted. "We could create a crystal that can absorb your Blue Core energy. Similar to how you revived ZOG."  
"That could work." Dad agreed.  
I smiled. "When will my new sister be created?"  
"Hopefully in a few days." Dad told me.  
AN 1: well, I've decided to make another story. What I'll try to do is base this fanfic on both the 2009 movie and the cartoon versions of Astro Boy. Hopefully, you'll all like it.  
AN 2: to those of you who write a review for my story, I'll respond to your review either by email or as an author's note. Depending if you have a Fanfiction account or not.


	2. Uran's Introduction

Astro's POV:  
"So, you're really gonna get a new sibling?" Cora asked.  
"Yup." I replied. "Dad's gonna try to base her design on me. She's gonna be given weapons, too."  
"I sure am glad that you both have to follow the Laws of Robotics." Sludge said.  
"Why?" I asked.  
"Because if you didn't, we'd all be in trouble." Widget explained.  
"Actually, I don't follow the Laws of Robots." I told them. "My sister probably won't, either."  
"Wait, you don't follow the Laws of Robotics?" Cora asked.  
"Then, why did you save Hamegg?" Zane asked.  
"Because it was the right thing to do." I replied. "I might be a robot, but I do have emotions, you know."  
"Why weren't you programmed to follow the Laws of Robotics?" Widget asked.  
"I don't really know." I admitted. "Probably because Dad designed me to be a human. Since humans don't follow the Rules of Robotics, I guess he felt that I didn't have to, either."  
"You really are unique, Astro." Cora said.  
I smiled. "Thank you!"  
Cora smiled. "Anyway, when will your new sister get built?"  
"Probably in a few more days." I replied. "When Dad created me, it took him a few days, too. Probably because he worked non-stop."  
"How old will she be?" Widget asked, all excited.  
"Probably younger than I am." I replied.  
"Well, we can't wait to meet her." Sludge said.  
"I can't either." I said.  
Roughly a few days later, Dad brought me to work with him. My sister was just created, and Dad needs me to activate her. As planned, my sister has a crystal in her that can absorb my Blue Core energy. Hopefully, if everything goes according to plan, she will be activated today. As Dad and I were heading to the laboratory, I started to question him.  
"Does she have a name yet?" I asked.  
"Yes. It's Uran." Dad said.  
"Uran?" I asked.  
"Yes, Uran." Dad replied. "Since you gave yourself a name associated with astronomy, I thought it would be appropriate to give her one as well."  
"Why Uran?" I asked.  
"Her name comes from certain pronounciations of the planet 'Uranus.'" Dad told me.  
"Oh. Okay." I said, now starting to get it.  
"Just to warn you, Astro, she may be very different from what you'd expect." Dad said.  
"What do you mean?" I asked.  
"Well, as you already know, I programmed you with a specific identity." Dad said, suddenly getting a little teary-eyed.  
Knowing what he was thinking about, I tried to change the subject.  
"Yeah, so?" I said.  
"I didn't program Uran with an identity." Dad explained. "So she might get kind of confused when she gets activated for the first time."  
"Yeah, that makes sense." I agreed. "I'll try to be easy going with her."  
"I'm glad." Dad said. "Also, her abilities will be somewhat different from yours. She won't be quite as strong as you are, and she'll have certain abilities that you don't."  
"Like what?" I asked.  
"Well, I don't want her to be too much like you." Dad replied. "After I accepted you as my son, I started to realize how important it was for you to have your own identity. So I've decided to allow Uran to develop her own in time."  
"That sounds fair." I said. "I remember how upset I was when I found out that I wasn't really your son."  
Dad nodded, although I could tell that he was starting to get a little uncomfortable. "Yes, well, anyway. Unlike you, she'll have the ability to communicate with animals and she will have a more child-like personality. Understandably, like a child, her knowledge of the world will be somewhat limited."  
"Okay." I said. "Why did you give her the ability to talk to animals?"  
"Well, when I created you, I gave you Toby's personality and multiple weaponry." Dad reminded me. "Not only that, I've made it so that you aren't restricted by the Laws of Robotics. I decided to think outside the box this time when I designed her. For some reason, giving her a power that involves nature was the first thing that came to mind."  
"Okay then." I said. "So does that mean that unlike me, she actually will be bound by the Laws of Robotics?"  
"No, she won't be." Dad replied. "Just to make sure I would never lose you (again), I made sure that the Laws of Robotics wouldn't affect you in any way. Therefore, I've decided to do the same thing to Uran."  
"Well, that's a relief." I said.  
At that moment, we arrived at the laboratory. After the doors opened, we went inside. Dr. Elefun was already in there, next to an operating table (the same one that I lied down on as Dad shut me off).  
Instantly, I noticed that on the operating table was a girl robot. I have to admit, Dad did a pretty good job with her. She kind of did look like me. Her hair was black and her skin was light in color, just like mine are. Her hair was also styled into two small spikes on her head. Only, they were pointed to the back of her head as opposed to the side. She was much younger than I am, roughly somewhere between 4 and 6 years old (at least she looked like it). She wore a red dress with a white collar. Her eyes were closed, so I couldn't tell what color they were. My guess is they are a light brown, like mine are.  
"Is this Uran?" I asked.  
"It is." Dad said. "She's almost complete. All she needs is a power source. That's where you come in, Astro."  
"On it." I said. "Can you lift her up, first?"  
Dad nodded. He walked over to Uran, then lifted her up. After undoing a few buttons on her dress, he pressed down and activated a hidden panel. After it opened, it revealed a circular crystal. The crystal was a dull gray, as if it was dead.  
Walking over to her, I unzipped my jacket and lifted up my shirt. After pressing down on my hidden panel, the Blue Core got exposed. I concentrated on my Blue Core. Instantly, Blue Core energy started to flow from me into Uran, similar to how I revived ZOG. After a few seconds, nothing happened. I tried again, but nothing still happened.  
"C'mon, Uran." I said. "Wake up!"  
"Astro, that's more than enough." Dad told me.  
"What, but-" I started to say.  
"When I created you, you didn't wake up when I put the Blue Core in you, either." Dad told me, buttoning Uran's dress again. "We have to send an electrical current through her body in order to activate her."  
I took a step back so I wouldn't get hit by the electricity. Trust me, you would too if you were a robot. It's painful! Especially if you can feel.  
Dad activated some sort of panel near the operating table, and a bunch of large wires came from the ceiling and attached themselves to Uran. Instantly, they started to retract, carrying Uran with them. They stopped when they reached the ceiling.  
"Was this how I was activated?" I asked in dismay.  
"Yes, it was. You may wanna look away, Astro. This will get very bright." Dad told me.  
I did as he said. At that moment, electricity started to flow through the wires and into Uran. Honestly, when Dad said that it would get very bright, that was an understatement. It got so bright in here that if I wasn't a robot, I probably would be blind by now!  
After roughly a full minute, the light stopped. The wires loosen their grip on Uran, and she fell to the floor next to the table. Now I know why I woke up there...  
After ten seconds, nothing happened. I was starting to get worried, but then Uran began to stir. Her hand moved, then she hoisted herself up. Her head turned in our direction. Her eyes were bright blue (literally). Her head turned again, and she blinked. After blinking, her eyes turned light brown, like mine. She briefly looked around, then she tried to stand up. It took her some time, but she was eventually able to stand up on her own. She spent about ten seconds just looking at her feet, then she started to dance around a little.  
Dad, Dr. Elefun, and I just stared at her. We weren't too sure what she was doing exactly. Uran started to dance around the room. She stopped when she noticed us.  
She walked over to us, with this confused look on her face. She looked at me, then Dad, then Dr. Elefun. She did that a few more times before Dad finally said something.  
"Uran." Dad said with a smile.  
Uran turned her head until she was facing him. She looked around her briefly, then pointed at herself.  
"Yes, you." Dad said. "Your name is Uran. I'm your father. This man over there is Dr. Elefun, and that guy over there is your brother, Astro."  
Uran didn't say anything. Instead, she turned to a nearby table that had a copy of her blueprints on it. She pointed at it.  
"Yes, that's you." Dad told her. "You're a robot."  
Uran blinked. She turned to Dr. Elefun and me, then she turned back to Dad. Instantly, a blue light shone out of her eyes until it landed on Dad. Her eyes moved up and down Dad's body. The blue light followed like a scanner. Instantly, I knew what she was doing. She activated her x-ray vision. I can do the same thing.  
After a few seconds, the blue light stopped. She paused for a few seconds, then walked over to Dr. Elefun. She x-rayed him, too. After she was done, she walked over to me. While she was x-raying me, her eyes widen. After it was over, she walked over to me, then lifted up her arms. Instantly, I lifted her up. She wrapped her arms around my upper back, then laid her head on my shoulder. Dad and Dr. Elefun just stared at us. They both seemed at a loss.  
"What-What did she just do?" Dr. Elefun asked.  
"She x-rayed us." I explained.  
"Why would she do that?" Dad asked.  
"I guess she wanted to see if any of us where robots, too." I said.  
"That explains why she seems to be more comfortable with Astro than with us." Dr. Elefun said.  
I turned to Uran, who was now asleep in my arms. I turned back to Dad and Dr. Elefun.  
"Well, we should probably get her used to humans before I introduce her to my friends." I said, half serious and half as a joke.  
AN: Well, that's chapter 2. I hope that you all enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think.


	3. Adaptations

Astro's POV:  
Now that Uran has been created, I guess I should tell Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge. However, I don't think now is the time for them to meet her. Not even close.  
Anyway, they agreed to meet me on the Surface. They're still not very familiar with Metro City. So in the meantime, we're just gonna keep meeting on the Surface. When I got there, Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge were waiting for me.  
"Hm." I thought. "This would be a nice opportunity for a little payback!"  
Yeah, I decided to prank them back. Of course, I'd never want to hurt them, so I'm gonna have to think carefully about this one. Now, the question is, what should I do? Wait, I've got it!  
I still have some money in my pocket, and I'm gonna put it to good use. I quickly went to the store and bought a pack of water balloons. After purchasing them, I filled up four of them with the garden hose that we used to clean ZOG with. I waited for the water to stop dripping so that when I'm above the four of them, they won't know what I'm up to.  
When the water stopped dripping, I flew into the air. When I was above Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge, I dropped all four of the water balloons on them. Luckily, Zane, Widget, Sludge, and Cora were standing close together, so I was able to hit them all before any of them realized what was happening. They all screamed.  
"ASTRO!" They all yelled in usion after noticing me.  
I laughed, then landed right next to them. "Consider that payback for pranking me the last time."  
"I'm soaking wet!" Cora yelled.  
"Calm down!" I told her. "It's still hot out. The water will evaporate before you know it."  
Zane sighed. "Fine."  
"We'll get you back for this Astro!" Widget told me.  
"C'mon, we're even." I insisted.  
"For now, we are." Sludge said.  
"Did you meet us here so you could prank us?" Cora asked.  
"No, I met you guys to tell you that my sister was just created yesterday." I replied.  
Instantly, they all forgot what just happened and got all excited.  
"Really?" Cora asked. "What's her name?"  
"Uran." I told her.  
"Her name is urine?" Sludge asked, laughing.  
"No, it's Uran." I told him. "Yer-rahn."  
"Sorry." Sludge said.  
"It's fine." I told him.  
"How old is she?" Widget asked.  
"I honestly don't know how old she's supposed to be." I admitted. "She looks like she's somewhere between four and six to me."  
Widget got all excited. I could tell that she's hoping to have a new friend that's around her age and also a girl.  
"When can we meet her?" Zane asked.  
"I honestly don't know." I replied. "Uran's not quite as advanced as I am. She can't really talk yet, and she has shown signs that she isn't comfortable around humans, either."  
"Why?" Sludge asked.  
"Probably because she's a robot." I told him. "Being a robot is all that she knows."  
"What's she doing now?" Cora asked.  
"Dad and Dr. Elefun are trying to develop her social skills and her ability to speak." I told her.  
"I wonder how that's going." Widget said.  
Third Person POV:  
Dr. Tenma and Dr. Elefun are attempting to train Uran. They're working on her ability to talk and to be able to identify things.  
"All right, Uran." Dr. Tenma said. "Let's try this again. Who is this?"  
Uran looked at who he was pointing to. She didn't say anything. Instead, she walked over to Dr. Elefun (who he was pointing at), then started to pull on his nose.  
"OW!" Dr. Elefun yelled.  
"Uran! Let go!" Dr. Tenma told her.  
Uran stopped what she was doing. She turned to Dr. Tenma, then did what he said. She walked over to Dr. Tenma, then started to pull on his nose!  
"OW!" Dr. Tenma yelled. "Uran! Let go at once!"  
Uran didn't stop. Instead, she started to pull harder. Dr. Elefun picked up a teddy bear from the couch, then held it up next to Uran.  
"Here, Uran." Dr. Elefun told her. "If you let go, I'll give you this teddy bear."  
Uran stopped what she was doing. She turned her head to look at the teddy bear. Instantly, she let go of Dr. Tenma's nose, then grabbed the teddy bear. She hugged it close to her.  
"All right, Uran." Dr. Tenma told her, rubbing his nose. "Let's try it differently this time."  
He lifted up Uran, who was still holding her teddy bear in her hand.  
"See this?" He asked, touching the glass window that led to the balcony. "This is a window. Say it. Say 'window.'"  
Uran took her eyes off of the teddy bear. She looked at the window, then gently touched it.  
"Window!" She said.  
"Very good!" Dr. Tenma told her. He turned to Dr. Elefun. "At least we're making some progress here!"  
"Window!" Uran repeated, touching the window again. Only this time, she touched it much harder than before, breaking it into millions of pieces.  
Dr. Tenma and Dr. Elefun's mouths dropped to the floor. They stood there staring at the broken window. Dr. Tenma put Uran down, then stared at the broken window for roughly two more seconds. Afterwards, he turn angrily towards Uran.  
"Say you're sorry!" Dr. Tenma ordered. "Right now!"  
"You're sorry!" She repeated happily.  
Dr. Tenma looked like he was gonna blow up, but before anything else could happen, Astro came home. Instantly, Uran ran up to him.  
"Hi Uran." He said.  
"Hi!" Uran said. Instantly, she hugged Astro, with her teddy bear still in her hand. "Brother!"  
Astro smiled. "You can talk now! At least we're making some progress here."  
He looked up to Dr. Tenma and Dr. Elefun. "Hi Dad! Hi Dr. Elefun!"  
Roughly a second later, Astro finally noticed the broken window.  
"Uh... what happened to the window?" Astro asked.  
Dr. Tenma growled a little, but didn't respond.  
AN 1: well, that's chapter 3! Tell me what you think.


	4. The Learning Curve

Roughly a day later.  
Astro's POV:  
Currently, I'm showing Uran around Metro City. Dad and Dr. Elefun decided to take a break from training her, especially since Dad now has to focus on buying a new window (which is gonna be pricy).  
Dad thought it would be a good idea if I try to train her a little. Since she seems more comfortable around me, it probably is. Honestly, I think that they want me to train her for a while because they know that she can't hurt me like she can hurt them. Dad suggested that I show her around Metro City, probably so I can get her out of the house for a while. Uran managed to learn how to speak more, but she's still uncomfortable around humans. However, she is starting to get used to Dad and Dr. Elefun, though.  
Anyway, Uran seems very interested in Metro City. She's very curious, and she wants to explore literally everything. I took her to the park first. When we got there, a few kids asked Uran if she wanted to play with them. Uran looked at me, and I had to encourage her to play with them. I sat on a bench and just watched her. However, we had to leave roughly thirty seconds later.  
Basically what happened was Uran and the other kids were playing tag. She almost tagged someone, but she missed and accidently hit the jungle gym. She must have hit it pretty hard, because it broke and crashed to the ground. The other kids' parents quickly got their kids away from the jungle gym.  
Instantly, I went over to Uran. I apologized to the other kids' parents, then we quickly left. Honestly, I was hoping that Uran would develop her social skills if I took her to the park. I guess I was wrong. Anyway, I took Uran over to an abandoned area in Metro City, then decided to have a talk with her.  
"Uran, you really gotta watch your strength." I told her. "You could kill someone if you're not careful!"  
Uran looked at me. Then, she looked back in the direction of the park.  
I sighed. "Uran, in comparison to robots, humans are much more delicate. They can't handle damage like we can."  
Uran still didn't say anything. Instead, she just looked at her dress.  
"Understand?" I asked.  
"Understand?" She repeated.  
"Do you understand?" I clarified.  
"Yes." She replied.  
"Do you really?" I asked.  
"Yes." She repeated.  
"Okay. I believe you." I told her. "Let's get something to eat. We may be robots, but we still need to eat."  
"We do?" She asked.  
"Well, we don't really have to." I admitted. "But, it can't hurt."  
I took Uran to a diner, mostly because they have a variety of foods. That's good, because I'm honestly sick of pizza. With luck, Uran will be able to develop table manners.  
After we were seated, the waitress handed us our menus. She gave me an adult menu even though I'm thirteen, and she gave Uran a kid's menu.  
"Dad gave us a decent amount of money, so order what you want." I told her. "When you know what you want, put your menu down so the waitress knows we're ready to order."  
I scanned the menu (not literally) to see what I wanted, and Uran was doing the same thing. After another two minutes, I decided what I wanted, so I closed my menu. Five minutes later, Uran was still looking over the menu, with a confused look on her face.  
"Uran?" I said. Instantly, she looked up at me. "Do you know what you want?  
"No." She replied.  
"Why not?" I asked. She handed her menu to me. "What's the matter?"  
"I don't know." She replied. We really need to develop her ability to talk.  
Wait, maybe that's the problem. Her abilities, or should I say her inabilities.  
"Uran, can you read?" I asked.  
"No." She told me.  
I sighed. No wonder she doesn't know what she wants. "Here, I'll read your menu to you."  
I read her menu to her. Eventually, Uran settled on what she wanted. Finally, we were ready to order.  
"What would you like?" The waitress asked after she came back.  
"I'll have a hamburger with lettuce and bacon on it." I told her.  
She nodded. "And what would you like, hon?"  
Uran looked at me.  
"She'll have the chicken fingers and fries." I told the waitress.  
"Coming right up." She said, taking our menus.  
"Thank you." I told her. I turned to Uran. "Uran, what do you say now?"  
"Um... I don't know." She replied.  
"Say thank you." I told her.  
"Thank you." Uran repeated.  
"You're welcome." The waitress said before leaving.  
I sighed. This is gonna be a long process.  
"Astro?" A voice that I recognized said.  
Turning in the direction of the voice, I saw Cora, Sludge, Widget, and Zane.  
"Hey, guys!" I greeted. "What are you doing here?"  
"We were gonna get some lunch before we-" Widget started to say, but then she noticed Uran.  
After a few seconds, Cora, Sludge, and Widget noticed her, too.  
"Is-is this Uran?" Sludge asked.  
"Yes, it is." I told him. "Say hi Uran."  
"Hi Uran!" She repeated.  
Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge frowned in confusion at her.  
"Sorry guys." I told them. "Uran's social and speaking skills aren't completely developed yet."  
Cora, Zane, and Sludge all looked disappointed, but not as disappointed as Widget, though.  
"How long until they are?" Widget asked.  
"I don't know." I admitted. "Hopefully soon. It may take time, though."  
At that moment, Uran looked out of the window. She got all excited.  
"Butterfly!" She exclaimed, jumping out of her seat. Before I had a chance to react, Uran went right through the window to chase after the butterfly.  
I was too shocked to react. "You gotta be kidding me..."  
Cora, Widget, Sludge, and Zane just stared at the broken window.  
"Uh, what just happened?" Cora asked.  
Before I had the chance to do anything, the manager came over. He wrote something on the check, then handed it to me. When I looked at it, I noticed that he wrote "+ broken window" on the bill.  
"Well, that sucks." Zane said, eying the bill.  
"I'm sorry about the window." I told the manager.  
"Just so you know, I know who you are." The manger told me, clearly annoyed. "Just because you're a robot doesn't mean I'm gonna excuse this. I will be sending your 'father' the bill."  
"I understand." I told him softly. "Here. Take the money for the food that we ordered. I gotta go find my sister."  
I turned to Cora, Sludge, Widget, and Zane. "Sorry to cut this short, guys, but I really gotta go."  
"We understand, Astro." Cora said.  
"Thanks. See you guys." I told them.  
With that, I rushed out of the restaurant. When I got outside, I activated my rocket boots and flew into the air. As a started to search for Uran, I decided to call Dad to tell him what happened.  
"Hello?" Dad said.  
"Hi, Dad." I said. "It's me."  
"Astro, is this important?" Dad asked. "I'm very busy today at the Ministry of Science."  
"I know you are, Dad." I told him. "But this is important. It's about Uran."  
"What about her?" Dad asked.  
"I can't find her." I told him.  
"You lost her?!" Dad demanded.  
"Not exactly." I replied. "We were eating at the diner, and she left to chase after a butterfly."  
Dad seemed to calm down. "All right. Well, just try to find her. If you don't find her soon, I'll try to help out during my lunch break."  
"Thanks, Dad." I said. "Also, there's another problem."  
Dad sighed. "What is it?"  
"When Uran chased after the butterfly, she ran right through the window." I told him. "The diner is gonna make us pay for it."  
"WHAT?!" Dad yelled. "Are you-"  
I decided that would be a good time for me to hang up. Especially since I could hear Dad cursing on the other end...  
AN 1: I hoped you all liked chapter 4. Tell me what you think.


	5. Uran's Development

Astro's POV:  
"Uran!" I called. "Uran!"  
Where is she? I've been searching for roughly an hour now, and there's still no sign of her. Where far could she have gone? Maybe I should get a little closer to the ground. Yeah, that's what I'll do!  
After considering it, I decided to stop flying and start searching for her by foot. But how do I find her? Think, Astro. Knowing Uran, she is still probably chasing after that butterfly. Where would a butterfly go, even if they were being followed? Maybe somewhere with flowers.  
That's it! Maybe Uran went back to the park. There are tons of flowers there, so it's worth a shot. After arriving at the park, I started to look around for her. After a few seconds, I finally found her! She was in the grass, still chasing after the butterfly. Not wanting to waste any time, I activated my rocket boots, and flew over to her.  
"Uran!" I said angrily. "You had me worried about you! You can't just wander off like that!"  
"Why?" She asked, turning towards me.  
"Because you could get hurt." I replied.  
"No, I won't." She insisted.  
"You might." I told her.  
Uran didn't respond. Instead, she started to look at the grass.  
"Bunny!" She exclaimed, pointing.  
I turned, and noticed a rabbit in the grass. Oh no! Not again! Before I had a chance to react, Uran started to chase after the rabbit, who started to run away.  
"Uran, come back here!" I ordered.  
"Come back, bunny!" Uran called.  
I started to run after her. Uran eventually stopped. When I caught up to her, I noticed that Uran was able to catch the rabbit. It's strange. The rabbit seemed entirely calm, like he didn't want Uran to let go of him.  
"Uran!" I said. "Seriously, stop running away like that!"  
"The rabbit's hungry!" Uran said, completely ignoring me.  
"How would you know?" I asked.  
"The rabbit told me." Uran replied.  
"How did the rabbit tell you? Rabbits can't-" I started to say, but then I remembered something. "Oh, right. I almost forgot that Dad gave you the ability to talk to animals."  
"He did?" Uran asked.  
"Yes, he did." I told her.  
"The rabbit's hungry!" Uran repeated.  
"I'd love to feed him, but I can't." I told Uran. "I don't have any food for him, and I can't buy him any."  
"Why not?" Uran asked.  
"Because I had to pay for our lunch, and partially for the window that you broke." I told her in annoyance.  
Uran looked at the rabbit, then at me again. "Feed him."  
I sighed. "Fine. We can walk home, feed him there, then take him back here. How does that sound?"  
Uran smiled. "Yes, let's do that!"  
Uran and I then walked home. Uran carried the rabbit in her arms the whole time. I noticed that the rabbit started to lick her face, causing her to giggle. I couldn't help but smile.  
Anyway, when Uran and I returned home, I noticed that the glaziers were there, fixing up the broken window. Orrin greeted us when we got there.  
"Hello Uran, Astro." Orrin said cheerfully. "Did you enjoy- uh, is that a rabbit?"  
"Yes it is." I replied. Orrin just stared at me, confused. "Uran wanted to feed him. So we decided to take him here. We'll give him a carrot or something, then return him to the park."  
"Oh, all right." Orrin said. "Well, carry on, then."  
"Orrin, can you do me a favor?" I asked. "Can you call Dad and tell him that I found Uran?"  
Orrin looked at me, rather confused. "Uh, what do you mean by 'found.'"  
"Uran ran out of the diner we were in to chase after a butterfly." I told him. "I told Dad what had happened while I was looking for her."  
"Oh." Orrin said. "Well, I'm glad that she's safe."  
After that, Orrin turned to the robotic glaziers. One of them handed Orrin a small piece of paper, probably the bill. When Orrin looked at it, I could tell that it was expensive because Orrin had an "oh geez" look on his face.  
"Oh, I feel I should tell you." I added. "When Uran chased after the butterfly, she broke the window there, too. They're gonna make us pay for that."  
Orrin sighed. "Does your father know about that?"  
"Yeah, I told him over the phone." I replied.  
"I'm taking it he wasn't happy about it." Orrin said.  
"Well, before I hung up, I could hear him cursing over the phone." I told him.  
Orrin nodded rather nervously. I sighed, then went to check on Uran, who went into the kitchen to feed the rabbit. When I got there, I noticed that Uran took all of the vegetables out of the fridge. It looked like a produce market in here!  
"Uran, you could just give him a carrot, you know." I told her.  
Uran turned to me, then pointed at the lettuce.  
"Yes, you could give him lettuce if you want." I told her. "Just wash it, first."  
Uran handed me the rabbit, then started to wash some of the lettuce in the sink. While she was doing that, the rabbit started to get a little fussy.  
"I gotta say, Uran." I said. "The rabbit certainly likes you more than he likes- Uran! You're not supposed to wash the lettuce with dish soap! Just use water!  
Uran turned to me, then put the dish soap bottle down. Luckily, she didn't use it yet, so the lettuce was still safe for the rabbit to eat. When Uran was finished washing the lettuce, she tore a chunk of it off, then started feeding it to the rabbit (while I was still holding him). When the rabbit was done, I handed him back to Uran. She snuggled close to him.  
"C'mon, Uran." I said. "Let's take the bunny back to the park now."  
Uran looked disappointed, but followed me to the park, anyway. When we got there, I told Uran to put the rabbit down. She shook her head.  
"Uran, the rabbit belongs here in the park." I told her. "We can't take him home with us."  
"Why?" Uran asked.  
"Because this rabbit is wild." I told her. "He won't like an indoor environment. Besides, I don't think Dad would like the idea very much."  
"Why?" Uran asked.  
"Because none of us really has the time to take care of a rabbit." I told her. "Maybe you can have a pet someday. Just not right now."  
Uran looked at the rabbit, then sighed. "Okay."  
She put the rabbit gently in the grass. The rabbit nuzzled her foot, then hopped away.  
I smiled. "C'mon, Uran. Let's go home."  
Uran smiled back, then she held out her hand. I took her hand, then led her back home. I gotta say, even though the day started out rough, Uran has definately showed signs of improvement...  
Third Person POV:  
Later that evening, Dr. Tenma returned home. Orrin greeted him.  
"Hello, Bill." Orrin said, taking his coat. "How was your day?"  
"For the most part, okay." Dr. Tenma responded. "Where are Astro and Uran?"  
"They're watching TV in the living room." Orrin replied. "Oh, speaking of Uran. The glaziers came today while you were at work. It's gonna cost roughly three hundred dollars in total to fix the window."  
Dr. Tenma smacked himself in the forehead. "Great. Just great. Between that and the window at the diner, we're probably gonna have to go on a budget from now on."  
"I'm sorry, Bill." Orrin said with sympathy in his voice.  
"It's not your fault." Dr. Tenma told him.  
Dr. Tenma started to head to the living room, leaving Orrin alone.  
"I sure hope that Uran won't be in too much trouble." Orrin thought. "She really can't help herself."  
Meanwhile, in the living room, Astro and Uran were watching the news. Understandably, the news reporters were talking about the window that Uran broke at the diner. Astro decided to turn the TV off, while Uran started to look somewhat guilty.  
At the point, Dr. Tenma came in the room. He walked over to Astro and Uran.  
"Uran, you gotta be more careful from now on." Dr Tenma said calmly (but sternly). "I know that you're not used to the idea that you can break things very easily, but you gotta try."  
Uran looked at her dress. "I'm sorry."  
Dr. Tenma sighed. "It's fine. Just be careful from now on, or I'm gonna have to start punishing you."  
Uran nodded, though you could tell that she was starting to get nervous. Astro seemed to have noticed.  
"Dad, you did program her to be childish." Astro said. "She really can't help herself."  
"I know, Astro." Dr. Tenma said. "Maybe that backfired on my part. Anyway, it's late. You two should get to bed."  
"Okay. Good night, Dad." Astro said.  
Astro started to head to his room, but he stopped when he noticed Uran, who hasn't moved from her spot on the couch. Astro walked over to her.  
"Uran, say good night." Astro told her.  
"Good night." Uran repeated.  
"C'mon, let's get to bed." Astro said, lightly dragging Uran to her bedroom.  
Dr. Tenma sat down on the couch, then let out an inaudible sigh.  
AN 1: well, that's chapter 5. I hope that you all liked it. Tell me what you think.  
AN 2: just so you know, I got the idea of Dr. Tenma's regrets based on CaptainJSparrow23610's latest review. Thanks for the idea (even though it may not have been intensional)!


	6. Progress

The Next Day.  
Astro's POV:  
I decided to meet up with Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge in the park. Now that they're used to Metro City, I think it's time that we meet somewhere else for a change. When I got there, the first thing I noticed was what they all brought with them. Cora was carrying an umbrella, Zane was wearing a rain poncho, and Widget and Sludge carried what looked like plastic shields.  
"Hey guys." I said after I landed. "What-what are you all doing?"  
"Protecting ourselves just in case you decide to prank us again." Cora responded, pointing the umbrella slightly towards me.  
"Don't worry. I'm not gonna prank you guys again." I told them. "As long as you don't prank me first."  
"How do we know you're being honest with us?" Sludge asked.  
"Guys, you know me well enough by now. Have I ever lied to you before?" I asked. They all shot me a look. "Besides that one time?"  
"You might have." Widget said. "How can we be sure?"  
I sighed. "All right. Fair enough. But how do I know that you guys aren't gonna prank me?"  
"You don't." Zane said with a wry smile.  
I immediately got suspicious, and quickly activated my X-ray vision. When I didn't detect anything on them that could be used to prank me, I deactivated it.  
"What-what was that?" Cora asked.  
"I just X-rayed you guys." I explained.  
"Why?" Widget asked.  
"So I could see inside of your pockets." I told her. "Since none of you seem to have anything that you can use to prank me, I guess you guys really weren't planning to."  
"No, we're weren't." Cora said in annoyance.  
All right, I believe them, then (for now).  
"Anyway, sorry guys about what happened when you first met Uran." I said.  
"It's fine." Zane said. "Is that all you came here to tell us?"  
"Kind of." I replied. "Also, when Uran's social skills and ability to talk improve, I'm gonna try to properly introduce you guys to her."  
"Really?" Widget asked.  
"Yeah, hopefully." I said. "She's developing more and more every day. However, she still needs to make more progress, first."  
"How long?" Sludge asked.  
"With luck, maybe a week at most." I told him.  
They all seemed to get kind of excited, especially Widget.  
"That's great, Astro." Zane said.  
"She won't break any more windows, right?" Cora asked. "Because if we meet at my house, and she breaks a window there, my parents are gonna go ballistic."  
"We're working on it." I told her.  
"Okay." Cora said. "Oh, and speaking of breaking windows, how did your dad react when he found out that Uran broke the window at the diner?"  
"Well, besides cursing over the phone, he took it pretty well." I replied.  
They all laughed.  
"What did he say?" Sludge asked.  
"About the window?" I asked.  
"No, what curse words did he say over the phone?" Sludge asked.  
"Well, he said-" I started to say. "Yeah, nice try."  
Sludge pouted a little, so did Widget.  
"Anyway, I guess I should go." I told them. "Uran may discover new powers at any time, and my dad may need my help to deal with her."  
"You sure you can't hang out a little longer?" Cora asked.  
"Well, I guess I could spare a few minutes." I replied.  
Third Person POV:  
Meanwhile, around the same time, Dr. Tenma was attempting to improve Uran's identification and speaking skills simultaneously in his home office (where there were no windows present).  
"All right, Uran." Dr. Tenma said. "Let's try this again. What is this?"  
He held up a card, and Uran stared at it curiously.  
"A tree?" She asked.  
"Very good." Dr. Tenma said.  
"Dad, can we do this in the living room?" Uran whined.  
"Maybe later, Uran." Dr. Tenma told her. "After you can control your powers a little better."  
Uran pouted.  
Dr. Tenma ignored her. "Now, what is this a picture of?"  
Uran looked at the picture. "A flower?"  
"Good." Dr. Tenma said before he held up another card. "What is this?"  
Uran stared at it in confusion. "A very inappropriate movie cover?"  
Dr. Tenma frowned. He looked at the picture, then his eyes widened. "Oh, uh, you weren't supposed to see that. How did that get in there?"  
"Can I watch that movie?" Uran asked.  
"No!" Dr. Tenma said. "Well, maybe when you're older."  
"But-" Uran started to say.  
"I said 'no!" Dr. Tenma repeated.  
Astro's POV:  
After returning home, I noticed that Dad was in the living room, but Uran wasn't.  
"Hi Dad." I greeted. "Where's Uran?"  
"She's in her room." Dad replied.  
"So, how did the training go?" I asked.  
"Much better." Dad replied. "She should be able to speak perfectly soon at this rate."  
"Can I take her to meet my friends soon?" I asked.  
"Hopefully." Dad replied. "Honestly, we've kind of limited her contact with people so far, so she still might not be comfortable around them yet."  
"She met them before." I told him.  
"She has?" Dad asked. "When?"  
"Around the same time Uran broke the window at the diner." I replied.  
"That reminds me." Dad said annoyed. "I got the bill for that today. It's gonna cost roughly four hundred dollars to fix."  
"Yeah, sorry about that." I said.  
"It's not your fault." Dad said.  
"Anyway, I'm gonna go see how Uran is doing." I told him.  
"You do that." Dad said, looking at the mail.  
I went to Uran's room, which is located right next to mine. When I was about to knock on Uran's door, I could hear her talking to someone. Suspicious, I opened her door, and found her on the windowsill. She was talking to a bird flying outside of her window. As she was talking to it, she was also attempting to grab it. I noticed that she was getting dangerously close to the edge.  
"Uran!" I shouted.  
Started, Uran turned towards me. Only, she slipped and fell out of the window. Instantly, I activated my robot boots, and flew out of the window to save her. After I flew out of the window, I saw Uran floating there. Apparently, she has rocket boots, too!  
Uran stared at her feet. "How-how am I doing this?"  
"Dad based most of your powers on mine." I told her. "As you can see, I have rocket boots, too."  
"But... but I didn't activate them." Uran said.  
"I think because you were in an emergency situation, your rocket boots got activated automatically." I told her. "My rocket boots first got activated the same way."  
"That's-" Uran started to say, but she accidently moved her leg, causing her to fly backwards.  
"Uran!" I called. Remembering what happened when I flew for the first time, I flew after her. Hopefully, she didn't crash into anything yet...  
I flew in the same direction that she did, and the first thing I noticed was a billboard that was advertising an archery class. It looked like Uran flew right into it. Coincidently, she flew right through the bullseye.  
Noticing a trail of smoke (probably coming from Uran's rocket boots), I decided to follow it. After another minute or two, I found Uran. She was floating directly above Metro City. Luckily, she seemed to have gotten her flying problem under control.  
I flew over to her. "Are you all right?"  
"Yeah." She replied. "What just happened?"  
"You accidently flew throught the air." I told her.  
"How did you find me?" Uran asked.  
"Your rocket boots produced a lot of smoke." I told her. "Also, you destroyed a billboard along the way."  
"So that's what I crashed into." Uran said.  
I nodded. "Let's go home."  
With that, Uran and I flew home. We entered our house through her window. After we landed, we noticed Dad and Orrin standing there in front of us.  
Dad crossed his arms over his chest. "Where were you two? You had me worried!"  
"Uran fell out of a window and activated her rocket boots." I told him. "I had to fly after her when she lost control."  
"Okay, then." Dad said. "Uran, you gotta be more careful from now on."  
"I know, Dad." Uran said.  
"Do you really?" Dad asked. "Because you seem to be getting in one mess after another."  
"You did make her childish, you know." I reminded Dad. "She's expected to get into situations like this."  
Dad sighed. "I know, Astro. I created her, after all. Uran, I know I said this many times already, but seriously, do be careful from now on."  
"Okay." Uran said.  
With that, Dad left, and Orrin followed him. I turned to Uran.  
"So, what other powers do I have?" She asked.  
"Probably what I have already." I told her. "However, our powers aren't completely identical, so I don't really know for sure what powers you have. That's something you should ask Dad. I wouldn't worry about it, though. When I first got my powers, they really just came to me naturally. Yours probably will, too."  
Uran smiled. "I hope so."  
"Trust me, they will." I assured her. "So what are you gonna do now?"  
"Probably take a nap." Uran replied, getting into bed.  
"Okay." I said. I quickly tucked her in, turned off the light, then left the room (before closing the door).  
Third Person POV:  
Astro went into the living room, where hs dad was looking at some papers.  
"Hi Astro." Dr. Tenma said when he entered.  
"Hi Dad." Astro replied. "What are you doing?"  
"Going over some bills." His father replied. "Where's Uran?"  
"She's sleeping." Astro told him. "Or at least trying to."  
Dr. Tenma nodded. "Probably not a bad idea. It's been a hectic morning."  
"Yeah." Astro said. "Well, I'm probably gonna meet my friends for lunch. Would you like me to bring back anything?"  
"No, thanks." Dr. Tenma replied. "I'm supposed to meet Dr. Elefun for lunch. After that, I have to attend a meeting. I'll probably be home somewhat late tonight."  
"How late?" Astro asked.  
"Around 8 o'clock." Dr. Tenma replied.  
"Okay." Astro said. "Well, I'm gonna go now. 'Bye Dad."  
"Good-bye." Dr. Tenma said.  
With that, Astro left, leaving Dr. Tenma alone.  
AN 1: well, that's chapter 6. Tell me what you think.  
AN 2: sorry that I haven't updated in a few days. I've been terribly busy with college lately.


	7. A Proper Introduction

One week later.  
Astro's POV:  
It's finally happened! Dad decided that Uran was finally ready to meet my friends. Not only that, but her ability to speak and her social skills have improved tremendously as well. However, I won't introduce Uran to them until she actually wants to meet them.  
Currently, I'm heading to Uran's room to talk to her. Hopefully, she'll agree to meet my friends. If not, I can wait until she's ready. I'm sure the others would understand.  
I knocked on Uran's door. Roughly a second later, she opened it.  
"Yeah?" She said.  
"Can I talk to you for a second?" I asked.  
"Sure." She replied.  
Uran walked back into her bedroom. I followed her.  
"What did you wanna talk about?" She asked, sitting on the bed.  
"Well, since your ability to speak and your social skills have improved, I thought that maybe you'd like to meet my friends." I told her.  
"Your friends?" She said.  
"Yeah, those kids we met at the diner." I told her.  
"Oh, yeah." Uran said. "I remember them."  
"So, what do you say?" I asked.  
Uran thought it over. "Okay."  
I smiled. "Great. I'll go tell them right now!"  
With that, I left for my bedroom. I decided to call Cora first, mainly because I didn't know the other's numbers.  
"Hello?" Cora greeted when she picked up.  
"Hi, Cora." I greeted.  
"Astro?" Cora recognized. "Hey. What's up?"  
"It's Uran." I told her. "She ready to meet you guys!"  
Cora got excited. "Really? That's great! When do you wanna meet up?"  
"Maybe tomorrow?" I suggested.  
"Works for me." Cora said.  
"Would you mind calling the others for me to let them know?" I asked. "I don't know any of their numbers."  
"On it." Cora said. "Don't worry. You can just ask for their numbers tomorrow."  
"Yeah, I probably should." I agreed. "So where do you guys wanna meet tomorrow?"  
"How about the Surface?" Cora suggested.  
"Sounds good." I said. "I should probably introduce Uran to ZOG, anyway."  
"Well, I gotta go." Cora told me. "Dinner should be ready soon."  
"Okay. Good-bye." I said.  
"'Bye." Cora said.  
With that I hung up.  
Cora's POV  
Well, it finally happened! We're finally gonna meet Astro's sister (again). Hopefully, it will go better than the last time. Oh, well. I'll worry about that when the time comes. First, I better call Zane, Widget, and Sludge to tell them the good news.  
"Cora, dinner's ready!" Mom called.  
"Comin' Mom!" I called back.  
Oh, well. I'll worry about that after dinner...  
Third Person POV:  
The next morning, Astro and Uran were getting ready to meet Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge. While they were doing that, they were chatting amongst themselves.  
Astro's POV:  
"You ready to meet my friends, Uran?" I asked.  
"I guess so." Uran replied shyly. "Do they know I'm a robot?"  
"Yeah, I told them before you were even created." I told her. "Even if I didn't, they probably would have figured it out by now, anyway."  
"Why?" Uran asked.  
"They saw you run through the window at the diner." I reminded her. "Since you were not hurt, they probably would have figured out that you were a robot on their own."  
"Oh." Uran said. "Is it that obvious?"  
"Well, no." I told her, starting to get some memories of when I first met my friends (before they found out I was a robot). "Maybe they wouldn't have. I really don't know."  
"You ready to go?" Uran asked.  
"Yeah. Let's go!" I said.  
"Hang on a second, Astro." Dad said. "I wanna talk to you first."  
"Okay, Dad." I said. I turned to Uran. "Be right back."  
I walked over to Dad. "What is it?"  
"Just keep a watchful eye on her." Dad told me. "While she seems to have got her powers under control, she's still very unpredictable."  
"Dad, I know that." I said. "What do you think she's gonna do?"  
"I don't know." Dad admitted. "That's what makes me worried. Remember, like you, she doesn't follow the Laws of Robots. And unlike you, she doesn't really have the same sense of morality that you do."  
"You did design her to be innocent, you know." I reminded him. "Most kids aren't that dangerous. So, I don't think she will be, either."  
"The key word is most, Astro." Dad said. "I really don't think she'll get into too much trouble, but you never know. Just be careful."  
"I will." I told him. "I'm very careful about these things, you know."  
"I know, Astro." Dad said. "Have fun!"  
"I will." I said. I walked over to Uran, who was staring out the window. "Ready Uran?"  
"I've been ready for five minutes now!" She told me.  
"All right." I said. "Let's go, then!"  
Roughly half an hour later, Uran and I landed on the Surface. After we landed, Uran looked around her and frowned. Her eyes widened and she looked kind of freaked out.  
"Uran?" I said. "What's wrong?"  
She pointed. I followed her gaze, and I saw a pile of broken robots.  
"Oh, I get it." I said. "I'm sorry, Uran. I forgot to tell you that the Surface is where Metro City dumps broken and dismantled robots."  
"So, it's like a cemetery for robots?" Uran asked.  
"Kind of." I told her. I didn't wanna tell her that some of the robots may still be functioning. It may freak her out more.  
"Why did you wanna meet them here?" Uran asked.  
"The Surface is where they spent most of their lives." I told her. "It's also where I first met them."  
"Still, did we have to meet them here?" She whined.  
"Yes, Uran." I told her. "There's someone else I wanted you guys to meet, anyway. He lives here on the Surface."  
"Who?" She asked.  
"ZOG." I told her. "He's a robot that I brought back to life."  
"Where is he, then?" Uran asked. "And your friends?"  
"I don't know." I told her. "Usually-"  
"Astro!" Multiple voices said simultaneously.  
I turned towards the direction of the voices and saw Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge running towards us.  
I smiled. "Hey, guys! We were looking for you."  
"Hey!" Zane greeted. "Uh, why does Uran look crept out?"  
"Oh. Uh, well, remember Zane, Uran and I are both robots." I reminded him. "Because this is where robots go after they're destroyed, the Surface is kind of like a cemetery to us."  
"Oh, yeah." Zane said. "I never thought of it that way."  
"You okay, Uran?" Cora asked.  
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Uran said slowly. "Uh, what's your name?"  
"Oh, yeah." Cora said. "I"m Cora."  
"I'm Zane." Zane said.  
"I'm Widget." Widget said.  
"Hi, I'm Sludge." Sludge said. "I'm older than her."  
Widget lightly shoved him. "By ninety seconds."  
Uran's eyes darted from Sludge to Widget. She did that a few more times.  
"They're fraternal twins, Uran." I explained to her.  
Uran looked at me, then she turned to Widget and Sludge. Without warning, she activated her X-ray vision. Her eyes scanned Sludge, then Widget. After a moment, it stopped. Then, she activated her X-ray vision again. This time, she examined Zane, then Cora. After that, she stopped and momentarily paused.  
"Did-did she just X-ray us?" Cora asked.  
"Yeah." I said.  
"Why?" Sludge asked.  
"She wanted to see if you guys were robots." I explained.  
"But, we're not robots." Zane said.  
"I know that, but she didn't." I told him.  
"You didn't tell her?" Cora asked.  
"I didn't think it was important." I admitted.  
"Why not?" Widget asked.  
I was about to respond when I heard someone speak.  
"Who's this?" a voice asked.  
We all turned and saw ZOG standing there.  
"Hi, ZOG." I said. "This is my sister, Uran."  
Uran's eyes dilated when she saw the size of ZOG.  
"H-Hi!" She said hesitantly.  
"Hello." Zog said. Slowly, he moved his hand towards Uran. Uran started to flee.  
"It's okay, Uran." I assured her. "ZOG won't hurt you. I promise."  
Uran calmed down. ZOG's hand gently landed on Uran's head. Slowly, he rubbed her head, causing Uran to giggle. When he was finished, she hugged him.  
"Déjà vu." Cora said.  
"You can say that again." I said with a smile.  
"Astro!" A new voice said.  
We all turned towards the direction of the voice. Standing there was the RRF.  
"I thought I recognized you." Sparx said.  
"What's going on here?" Robotsky asked.  
"Just a reunion." Zane responded.  
"Oh, it's you guys again." Mike the Fridge said.  
"Yeah, nice to see you, too." Cora said sarcastically.  
"Who-who's the robot girl?" Sparx asked.  
"That's my sister, Uran." I told him.  
"You have a sister?" Robotsky asked.  
"Yeah, she was created a couple of weeks ago." I said.  
"Interesting..." Sparx said.  
I don't know why, but I felt uncomfortable when he said that. What is he thinking- oh no. he's not...  
Sparx walked over to Uran. "Do you follow the Laws of Robotics?"  
Yup, I was right.  
"The what?" Uran said.  
"The Laws of Robotics." Sparx repeated.  
"What's that?" Uran asked.  
"The Laws of Robotics states that robots can't harm a human in any way or form blah, blah, blah." Robotsky told her, clearly bored.  
"I don't know." Uran said.  
"She doesn't." I told them.  
"Wonderful!" Mike the Fridge said. "How would you like to join the RRF?"  
"The what?" Uran said.  
Sparx, Robotsky, and Mike the Fridge lined up, then gave a salute. "The Robot Revolutionary Front!"  
They all danced in place, which Uran joined in.  
"I'm Sparx, the brains." Sparx told her.  
"I'm Robotsky, the muscle." Robotsky said, flexing his arms a little.  
"And I'm Mike the Fridge." Mike the Fridge said. "I'm the fridge."  
"If you join us, we'll all do what we can to free robot kind from enslavement." Mike the Fridge insisted.  
"Enslavement from what?" Uran asked.  
"Human-kind, like Hamegg." Robotsky responded.  
"Who's Hamegg?" Uran asked.  
Sparx moved closer to Robotsky.  
"She keeps asking questions." He whispered to him. "This alliance might interest her!"  
Sparx turned back to Uran. "Hamegg is the guy that enslaves robots on the Surface."  
"Actually, Hamegg was forced to stop 'enslaving' robots after the Robot Games ended." Cora said, using air quotes when she said the word 'enslaving.'  
"Well, yes." Sparx admitted. "However, just because Hamegg has been stopped doesn't mean that we won't stop to free all robots."  
"What do you mean 'Hamegg has been stopped?'" Widget asked.  
"Oh, uh, he vanished, didn't he?" Robotsky asked.  
I raised an eyebrow. "How do you guys know that?"  
"Uh, because we haven't seen him for a while." Mike the Fridge said.  
Yeah, right. I can tell he's lying.  
I sighed. "Okay, where is he?"  
Third Person POV:  
Meanwhile, elsewhere on the Surface (the RRF's "secret" headquarters), Hamegg was still tied to the chair, soaking wet. He was shivering from the cold. Besides him were two hairdryers, probably to dry him off after he suffers for a while.  
Suddenly, the door opened, and Astro, Cora, Zane, Widget, Sludge, Uran, and the RRF came in. Astro came up to Hamegg, with Uran behind him.  
"Just in case, Uran, stay back." Astro said.  
"Why?" Uran said.  
"Because I don't know if Hamegg will hurt us or not when he's freed." I replied. "However, because it's the right thing to do, I'm gonna free him, anyway."  
Uran stayed back. Astro went up to Hamegg, who lifted his eyes to Astro.  
Astro's POV:  
"Astro!" Hamegg exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"  
"Visiting my friends." I told him. "Also, I'm here to free you."  
"Why?" Hamegg asked.  
I sighed. "Do you wanna be freed or not?"  
Instantly, Hamegg shut up. Smart man.  
I grabbed the ropes on the side of his body and easily ripped them apart, freeing Hamegg. Instantly, Hamegg tried to stand up, but he fell. I caught him before he fell to the ground.  
"Uh... thanks." Hamegg said.  
"Don't mention it." I said.  
I helped him down, and he just stared at me for a moment. It was then that he noticed Uran.  
"Who's the girl?" Hamegg asked.  
"I'm Uran." Uran told him.  
"She's my sister." I clarified.  
Hamegg rose an eyebrow. "You have a sister?"  
"Yeah. She was created a couple of weeks ago." I told him.  
"You don't say." Hamegg said. "I'm guessing that she's as powerful as you are."  
"Not exactly." I said. My eyes widened as realization sunk in. "Don't do anything foolish."  
"I wasn't planning anything." Hamegg insisted. "I have no use for robots, anymore. The Robot Games ended because of you. Now you're all a bunch of stupid and useless robots to me."  
Uran got mad. "Excuse me?"  
"You heard me!" Hamegg said.  
Uran walked over to him, then grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. She flung him across the room, causing Hamegg to crash into a desk.  
"Ow." Hamegg moaned.  
Sparx gasped. "She really is not affected by the Laws of Robotics!"  
He walked over to Uran. "Here's our card if you ever decide to join us."  
Uran looked at the card. "Um, there's a fly on your eye in this picture."  
Sparx looked at the card more closely. "Oh. Uh, we'll get you a different card."  
With that, Sparx left the room, with Robotsky and Mike the Fridge behind him.  
I walked over to Hamegg. "Hamegg, are you okay?"  
"I"m great!" He replied sarcastically and weakly. "I think she broke something. Lucky me!"  
I quickly X-rayed him. "You're fine. Just a little banged up with a couple of bruises is all. I'll take you home."  
I turned to Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge. "Can you guys watch Uran for me?"  
They didn't say anything. It was at that moment that I realized that all of their mouths were open (probably in shock at what Uran just did).  
"Uh, sure, Astro." Cora said after a while.  
"Let's not make her mad." I heard Sludge whisper to Widget, who nodded.  
I turned to Uran. "I'll be right back. Promise me you won't hurt anyone else unless it's in self-defense."  
Uran sighed. "Fine. He did deserve it, though."  
"Maybe so, but that doesn't mean that you should have hurt him." I told her.  
Uran didn't say anything. I grabbed Hamegg then flew towards his headquarters with him in my arms.  
Third Person's POV:  
Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge watched Astro fly off. When he was out of sight, they all turned to Uran.  
"Let's wait for him outside." Cora insisted.  
Uran nodded, then started to walk out the front door. She turned suddenly. "Aren't you coming?"  
"We'll be there in a minute." Widget said.  
Uran left, leaving the others alone.  
"Wow." Zane said. "Just wow."  
"I don't really know if I wanna be friends with her now." Widget said.  
"Should we still give her a chance?" Sludge asked.  
"I guess." Cora said. "We just gotta be more careful around her. She's more prone to violence than Astro is."  
"You're not kidding." Zane said.  
"We should go." Cora insisted. "We shouldn't leave Uran alone."  
Zane sighed. "Fine."  
They all walked out. Roughly two seconds later, the RRF returned.  
"Good new." Sparx said. "We found a new card for you."  
"Actually, we created a new one." Robotsky said.  
Sparx lightly hit him upside the head. When they entered the room, they noticed that it was now empty.  
"Where did everyone go?" Mike the Fridge asked.  
AN 1: sorry guys that I haven't updated in a few days. It's been hectic. I hope this chapter makes up for it. It was much longer than I planned it to be.


	8. The Aftermath

Astro's POV:  
Hamegg and I just returned to his headquarters. I can tell that Hamegg is in a lot of pain, mostly because he was complaining about it the entire time it took us to get here. Anyway, after we arrived at his headquarters, I took him up to his room and placed him on his bed (which was a lot nicer than ours were, if I might add).  
"Can I get you anything?" I asked.  
"No." Hamegg replied. "But you can do something for me instead."  
"What?" I asked.  
"See the robotic cattle prod over there?" He asked, pointing to his dresser.  
"You mean the one that you zapped me with?" I asked bitterly.  
"Yes." He replied, ignoring my anger. "Take it, and zap your messed-up sister with it until she learns better!"  
"Forget it!" I told him. "I'm serious, can I get you something? Maybe something to help you."  
"I'd like a pain pill." Hamegg replied.  
I smiled. "At least we're making progress. Where do you put your pain medication?"  
"In the cabinet in my bathroom." Hamegg replied.  
"On it." I told him.  
I went into his bathroom (which was connected to his bedroom), and started to look inside his medicine cabinet. It took me roughly thirty seconds to find it. After reading the directions, I went to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water. Then I returned to Hamegg.  
"Here you go." I told him, handing him the medicine and the water.  
He nodded, then popped the pills into his mouth, before swallowing it with the water.  
"Thank you." He said, which surprised me.  
"You're welcome." I said. "Can I get you anything else?"  
"No, thanks." He replied.  
"Well, I'm gonna go." I told him. "Uh, stay off your foot for a while. I know that you're bones aren't broken, but should I call a doctor, anyway?"  
"No, I'll be fine." Hamegg said.  
"Okay." I said. "Well, feel better, Hamegg."  
"Thanks." He replied.  
I nodded, then left.  
Hamegg's POV:  
Unbelievable! Just plain unbelievable. First, Astro ruined the Robot Games, then I meet his infernal sister. Not only is she powerful, like Astro is, but she's also not affected by the Laws of Robotics (like ZOG). Now that I think about it, I'm starting to wonder if Astro is affected by the Laws of Robotics or not. My guess is no since his sister isn't.  
She actually had the nerve to throw me across the room like a frisbee. She could have killed me! That infernal little piece of scrap metal. I outta zap her with the robotic cattle prod myself! Yeah, that's what I'll do the next time I see her. I'll show her who's boss and who she's messing with!  
I turned to the robotic cattle prod, but it was gone!  
"What?!" I cried. "ASTRO!"  
Astro's POV:  
Just before I left Hamegg's, I stole his robotic cattle prod. 1) so he can't use it again to harm any more innocent robots, and 2) so he won't hurt me (again) or Uran. It's for the best that I destroy it.  
I set it down on the ground, then activated my arm cannon. I pointed it at the robotic cattle prod, then sent a blast at it. The robotic cattle prod got blasted into pieces.  
I smiled, then flew off to the RRF's "hideout," where I had last seen the others. When I arrived there, I found them outside of the hideout. Instantly, I landed on the ground next to them.  
"Hey, guys." I greeted. "Has Uran caused any trouble?"  
"No, not really." Cora replied.  
"All we did was talk to ZOG." Zane added.  
I turned to ZOG. "Hey, ZOG."  
ZOG waved. "Hey."  
I turned back to the others. "Well, anyway, Uran and I should probably head back home. It's getting late."  
"Yeah." Cora said. "We probably should be heading home, too."  
"C'mon, Uran." I said. Uran walked up to me. "Well, 'bye guys."  
"'Bye, Astro." Cora said.  
"See ya." Widget said.  
"See you tomorrow." Sludge said.  
"See ya, Astro." Zane said.  
"Good-bye." Uran said, waving.  
With that, I flew off, with Uran behind me. Before I left, I noticed the others waving good-bye, including ZOG.  
Third Person POV:  
"Wow." Cora said. "I guess Astro was right. He and Uran really don't follow the Laws of Robotics."  
"We probably should be a little more careful around Uran." Sludge said.  
"I hear ya." Zane agreed.  
"Can we still try to be friends with her?" Widget asked.  
"I guess so." Cora said.  
"You gotta try." ZOG said.  
They all turned to him. You could tell that they all forgot that he was standing there.  
"You're comfortable around me, and I don't follow the Laws of Robotics." ZOG said.  
Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge looked at each other.  
"Well, that's true." Cora said.  
"Honestly, I forget that you don't follow the Laws of Robotics." Zane admitted.  
"Why don't you?" Sludge asked.  
"I was created over a hundred years ago." ZOG replied.  
"Oh, that's right." Widget said. "I think Hamegg mentioned something about that just before you tried to crush him."  
ZOG nodded.  
"He's right." Zane said. "We should still give Uran a chance. It's not like she hurt Hamegg for no reason."  
"Still, she didn't have to hurt him that badly." Cora said.  
"Oh, well." Widget said. "What's done is done."  
"Yeah, I guess." Sludge said.  
"We probably should be heading home." Cora said, glancing at her phone. "It's almost 6:30."  
"Yeah." Zane said. "Well, 'bye, guys."  
"'Bye." Widget and Sludge said simultaneously.  
"See ya." Cora said. "Oh, 'bye, ZOG."  
ZOG waved good-bye. The others waved back, then left.  
Astro's POV:  
Uran and I arrived home, and our father and Orrin greeted us.  
"Hi, Astro. Uran." Dad said. "Did you two have fun?"  
"Yeah, we did." I replied. I decided that it would be a good idea not to tell Dad what happened with Hamegg.  
"I'm glad to hear that." Dad said. "Did your friends get along with Uran?"  
"For the most part." I told him.  
I noticed that Orrin was staring at me strangely. "Is something the matter, Orrin?"  
Orrin seemed to snap out of his trance. "Oh, it's nothing, Astro."  
"You sure?" I asked.  
"Yes, don't worry about it." Orrin replied.  
"Well, you two should settle down before bed." Dad said. "Uran, I'm gonna try to get you to control your powers better tomorrow."  
Uran nodded. "I'm glad. When my rocket boots got activated for the first time, I flew straight through a billboard."  
Dad frowned, then sighed. "Oh no. I don't have to pay for that too, do I?"  
"Don't worry, Dad." I told him. "They probably don't even know what happened to it."  
Dad nodded. "Good. Ever since Uran smashed the window in the living room and at the diner, I had to take out extra insurance. It's expensive enough, and I don't need my rate to go up."  
"Yeah." I said. "Well, I'm gonna go to my room now."  
"So am I." Uran said.  
"You can stay up for an extra three hours, but after that, go to bed." Dad said.  
Uran and I nodded, then went to our rooms.  
Third Person POV:  
After Uran and Astro left the room, Dr. Tenma attempted to do some work. As he was looking over a document of some sort, Orrin started to clean up the room.  
"It's nice that Uran is attempting to make friends." Orrin said.  
"I suppose." Dr. Tenma. "However, as of now, I don't want her to make too many friends."  
"Why not?" Orrin asked. "I think it would be good for her."  
"I'm sure it would be." Dr. Tenma said. "Remember, her powers are somewhat uncontrollable, and because of her ability to develop her own personality, there's no telling what she'd do with her powers."  
Orrin thought it over. "Well, I suppose so. She doesn't seem to be evil in any way."  
"She doesn't have to be." Dr. Tenma replied. "Even those who are good can make selfish and cruel choices."  
Orrin sighed. "Yeah, I know what you mean."  
Dr. Tenma rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"  
"Oh, nothing, sir." Orrin replied in a nervous matter.  
"I told you to call me Bill." Dr. Tenma told him.  
"I know." Orrin said. "Remember, you programmed me to be polite and respectful."  
"Yeah, maybe I should rewire you." Dr. Tenma joked.  
"Can I be the one in charge this time?" Orrin asked.  
He and Dr. Tenma both laughed.  
"Well, anyway." Orrin said. "I gotta say, you made Astro very human-like. I couldn't even tell that he was a robot until I scanned him."  
Dr. Tenma looked up from his work and turned to him. "Did-did you wait about four months to tell me that?"  
"No." Orrin replied. "I'm only bringing it up because I just noticed a certain detail about Astro that I never noticed before."  
"Which is what, exactly?" Dr. Tenma asked.  
"That he has blood in his body and is capable of bleeding." Orrin replied.  
Dr. Tenma rose an eyebrow. "He can bleed?"  
"Well, I suppose so." Orrin replied. "After he and Uran came home, the first thing I noticed was he had blood on his arm. I assumed he cut himself somehow. What's his blood made of? Oil with some kind of red dye?"  
Dr. Tenma stared at him for a moment before responding. "Orrin, Astro doesn't have any blood or a blood-like substance in his body. I may have made him very human-like, but it's his outer appearance that resembles a human's. His inner appearance is very robotic."  
Orrin stared at him in confusion. "But, I saw blood on his arm."  
"Are you sure it was blood?" Dr. Tenma asked.  
"Positive." Orrin replied. "Remember when Toby cut himself, I was the one who took care of it. I know blood when I see it, Bill."  
Dr. Tenma stared into space for a moment, with some tears in his eyes (from being reminded about his deceased son). "I'll be right back, Orrin."  
With that Dr. Tenma left the room.  
"Hm. Maybe Astro doesn't have blood in him, after all. That explains why I didn't see any when I scanned him for the first time." Orrin thought to himself. "So, where did the blood come from?"  
Astro's POV  
After I went to my room, I decided to attempt to recreate a famous painting. Maybe a Da Vinci painting. When I was about to draw it, I heard a knock on my door.  
"Come in." I said.  
Instantly Dad opened the door and came into my room.  
"Hi, dad." I greeted.  
"Hi, Astro." Dad said. "What are you doing?"  
"Trying to copy a Da Vinci painting." I replied.  
Dad glanced at the painting that I was trying to draw. "The Mona Lisa, huh? That's gonna be difficult."  
"I know." I replied. "But it will give me something to do."  
Dad nodded. He didn't say anything after that.  
"Did you need something, Dad?" I asked.  
"Actually Astro, I do." Dad replied. "When you returned home, Orrin noticed that you had blood on your arm. Is this true?"  
I glanced at my arm. Sure enough, there was dried-up blood on my arm. I can't believe I didn't notice it! Hamegg must have bled after Uran threw him. Some of it must have landed on my arm when I was carrying him back home.  
"Uh, yes it is." I replied nervously.  
"Whose blood is it?" Dad asked. "Because I created you, I know for a fact that you don't have blood in you. The closest thing to blood that you have in your body is Blue Core energy."  
"Well, uh, you see..." I started.  
"Astro, what happened?" Dad demanded. "Did you make someone bleed? Did someone attack you?"  
"No." I replied.  
"Then, what happened?" Dad asked.  
"The truth?" I asked.  
"Yes, the truth." Dad replied, starting to get impatient.  
"Well, Dad, it's like this..." I said.  
I told him everything, from the point where we met the RRF to the part where I took Hamegg back home.  
Dad stared at me dumbfounded. "Wait, Hamegg?"  
"Yeah, Hamegg." I said. "He said that you fired him from the Ministry of Science."  
"You're darn right I fired him." Dad said. "So that's where he's been all this time. I always wondered what happened to him."  
"Well, now you know." I said.  
Dad looked at me. "Astro, from now on, I don't want you or Uran to go to the Surface any more. Do I make myself clear?"  
"But Dad-" I started to say.  
"No buts." Dad said. "Hamegg is somewhat on the abusive side. There's no telling what he may do to you."  
"I already know that answer to that." I muttered to myself.  
"What was that?" Dad said.  
"Nothing." I told him.  
"Astro, do I make myself clear?" Dad asked. "I don't want you or Uran to go to the Surface any more, or at least until Hamegg is properly dealt with. Understand?"  
I sighed in defeat. "Okay. I won't go to the Surface until further notice."  
Dad smiled. "Thank you. So, how badly did Uran hurt him?"  
"Nothing too bad in the long run." I told him. "Just some bruises and I guess probably a few cuts here and there. I don't know how I missed that."  
Dad sighed. "I hope he won't take legal action against us."  
"I doubt it." I told him. "He can't afford a lawyer, anyway."  
"He doesn't have to." Dad said. "Well, I'm gonna go give Uran another lecture."  
"Okay." I said. Poor Uran...  
"Good night, Astro." Dad said, closing the door.  
"Good night." I said.  
AN 1: Well, that's Chapter 8. Tell me what you think.  
AN 2: To those of you who are curious, when Dr. Tenma said that even good people can make selfish and cruel choices, Orrin was reminded of Toby. At the beginning of the movie, Toby rewired Orrin and made him carry his backpack. Toby was probably a nice kid in the movie, but he obviously had quite a few selfish tendencies.


	9. Discoveries

The Next Day.  
Astro's POV:  
As promised, Dad decided to help Uran to control her powers better. He decided to take her to the Ministry of Science, and Dad wanted me to tag along. Mostly to help out just in case Uran loses control. While we were heading to the Ministry, we struck up a conversation.  
"What are we gonna do exactly?" Uran asked. "Will it hurt?"  
"No, it won't." Dad said. "Basically what we're gonna do is get you used to your powers."  
"How?" Uran asked.  
"Well, I've set up multiple tests already." Dad told her. "Basically the first tests will be a process of elimination. For the first test, we're just gonna see what powers you have. I should know that already, but I just want to see if you can activate them yet."  
"I already know some of my powers." Uran said. "I can fly, I have super strength, and I have X-ray vision."  
"I know that." Dad said. "There are other powers that you have but don't know yet."  
"Like what?" Uran asked.  
"You'll see." Dad replied.  
"What'll happen after the first tests?" Uran asked.  
"As soon as we find out what powers you can activate, we'll get started with the second tests." Dad said.  
"Which is what exactly?" I asked.  
"Basically, Uran will do a bunch of activities." Dad told me. "Each one will correspond to a different ability of Uran. It'll help her to develop and control her powers more."  
"I wouldn't worry about that." I said. "When my powers were activated for the first time, I was able to control them pretty quickly."  
"I know, Astro." Dad said. "But Uran might be another story. Remember, not all of her powers are identical to yours. They may not be as controllable as yours are."  
I nodded. "Well, I suppose. How long should these tests take?"  
"Hopefully, an hour or two." Dad replied. "After that, I have other projects to work on"  
At that point, Dad turned to Orrin, who was driving us there.  
"Orrin?" Dad said. "Can you drive Astro and Uran home afterward?"  
"No problem, Bill." Orrin replied.  
"Instead of going home, could I take Uran somewhere?" I asked.  
"Such as?" Dad asked.  
"I don't know." I admitted. "Maybe somewhere to eat."  
Dad sighed. "I don't know, Astro. I think we should wait until her personality and her powers are both fully developed first. I can't afford to fix every window that she breaks."  
"Well, we don't have to go out to eat." I said. "Maybe I could take her to the park or something."  
"We'll see." Dad said. "We'll discuss it later."  
I nodded again. At that point, we arrived at the Ministry of Science. Orrin parked the car, then we got out of it.  
"We'll make this short." Dad told Orrin.  
"Take your time." Orrin insisted.  
Dad nodded, then led the way to the laboratory. When we got there, Dr. Elefun was waiting for us. There were about six other scientists there, too.  
"Hello, Tenma." Dr. Elefun greeted. "Astro. Uran."  
"Hello, Dr. Elefun." I said.  
"Hi." Uran said, kind of shyly.  
"You ready Uran?" Dr. Elefun asked.  
Uran shyly nodded.  
"Follow me." Dad told her.  
Uran followed him. Dad led her to the operating table that he created Uran on. Dad lifted Uran up, then placed her on the operating table. He picked up a clipboard that was on a nearby table (the same one Uran's blueprints were on when she was first activated).  
"Okay, Uran. See this clipboard?" Dad asked, showing her the clipboard in his hand. "This is the list of powers that you should have. As I've already told you, the first thing we're gonna do is to find out which of your powers you can activate yet. After that, we're gonna do a series of activities to get you to control your powers. Understand?"  
"Yes." Uran replied.  
"Good." Dad said. "The first tests should be very simple. Since we already know that you can fly, have X-ray vision, and have super strength, we can skip those tests for now. We'll deal with them during the second test. Now, let's get started."  
Dad walked over to me.  
"Astro, for now, just stay behind the panel." Dad told me. "I don't know for sure what will happen, but it'll be safer there for you."  
"I can probably handle it." I insisted.  
"Do as you're told." Dad said.  
I did as he said, and went behind the panel.  
"Thank you." Dad said.  
He walked back to Uran.  
"All right, Uran." Dad said. "I'm gonna give you a list of instructions, and just try to follow them. If you can't, we'll just wait a few more minutes just to make sure. Got it?"  
"Got it." Uran repeated.  
"Good." Dad said. "Are you ready?"  
"Yes." Uran replied.  
"All right." Dad said. "Raise your arms."  
Uran did as she was told.  
"Good." Dad said. "Now, try to change them into arm cannons. Don't do anything else."  
"How do I do that?" Uran asked.  
"Just concentrate." Dad told her.  
Uran didn't say anything. She just looked at the ground. After a minute or two, her arms transformed into arm cannons.  
"Good." Dad said, writing on his clipboard. "Now, turn them back into arms."  
Uran did, although it took her a few seconds for her to do so.  
"Very good." Dad told her. "Now, I'm gonna play a listening for you. If you can, tell me what they're saying. It won't be in English, so I don't know what they're saying."  
Uran nodded. Dad put a pair of headphones on Uran's head, then pressed a button on the control panel. After a few more seconds, she frowned before answering.  
"They're saying that Dr. Tenma is a slave driver, and he has two kids with very weird hair." Uran said, frowning.  
I frowned. "Dad, was that what they were saying?"  
Dad looked at the translator. "Uh, yes, apparently. I got a random sample from a pair of cleaning robots outside our house."  
Okay, now I get it. She was listening to a conversation between two Metro City robots. Humans can't understand their language. Being robots, Uran and I both can. I'm gonna have a conversation with them later about this...  
"Uh, yes, well, anyway." Dad said. "Good job, Uran."  
"Uh... thanks." Uran replied, clearly annoyed by what she just heard.  
"Anyway, let's move on to the next part of the test." Dad said, clearly trying to change the conversation.  
Later on, we were finished with the first test. Now it's time for the second.  
"All right, Uran." Dad said. "The first test is over. Now it's time for the second one. Now that we know all of the powers that you can activate as of now, it's time to test them out. Hopefully, you'll be able to control them when it's over."  
Uran nodded. Dad walked over to her.  
"All right, Uran." Dad said. "For safety reasons, everyone but you will be behind the panel, including me most of the time. In this part of the test, you will actually be using your powers this time. I'll be directing you the entire time."  
"Okay." Uran said. "Will this be dangerous?"  
"Well, it could be." Dad admitted. "However, if everything goes directly as planned, no one should get hurt."  
"I hope so." Uran said.  
"All right, let's begin." Dad said. "We'll start with something basic."  
Dad walked over to a bag in the corner of the room. He took out three plastic cups from it, then walked over to Uran.  
Dad lifted a coin out of his pocket. "See this coin, Uran? I'm gonna put it in one of these plastic cups. Without looking, you have to find it. The rule is, you can only use your X-ray vision to find it. Understand?"  
"I think so." Uran replied.  
"Good." Dad said. "Turn around."  
Uran did as she was told. Dad (as quietly as possible) placed the coin in one of the plastic cups, then set it down on the operating table. He put duct tape on the cups so Uran can't see through it.  
"Okay, Uran." Dad said. "Turn around, and find the coin."  
Uran turned around and looked at all three of the cups. After a second, she activated her X-ray vision. She looked at all of the cups, then quickly deactivated her X-ray vision.  
"That one." She said, pointing at the middle cup.  
Dad ripped off the duct tape on the middle cup, then lifted up the cup. He fished the coin out of it.  
"Good, Uran." Dad praised. "Now it's time for the second test."  
He walked over to the panel, then pressed a button. Instantly, three targets were lowered. One landed on the floor, one stopped when it was halfway between the ceiling and the floor, and the third one stopped about a quarter from the floor.  
"For this task, Uran, you will need to activate your arm cannons." Dad told her. "This time, I will be behind the panel with everyone else. For this task, you will use your arm cannons to hit all three of the targets. Try to aim for the bullseye if you can. There are a few rules: 1) you cannot move, and 2) you can only use your arm cannons. Nothing else. Got it?"  
"Got it." Uran said.  
"Good." Dad said. "You may begin when you're ready."  
Uran looked at the targets, then she activated her arm cannons. She pointed at one of the targets, then sent a blast at it. She did hit it, but she missed the bullseye by about two inches. Then she pointed at another bullseye. She hit that one, too. She was closer this time. She only missed the bullseye this time by about half an inch. She pointed at the final target. This time, she missed the target completely. Suddenly, all of the lights went out.  
"What happened?" I asked.  
"Uran must have hit the energy source." Dad explained. "We're trying to reduce pollution by converting the energy from electricity to wind energy. The generator for the system is right here in the laboratory. Uran must have damaged it."  
Dr. Elefun sighed. "I'll find a flashlight."  
"Nevermind. I got it." I said.  
With that, I lifted up my shirt, then activated the panel on my chest. Instantly, the Blue Core started to brighten up the room.  
"What's that?" Uran asked, walking up to me.  
"It's called the Blue Core." I replied. "It's what powers me."  
"Do I have one?" Uran asked.  
"Kind of." I told her. "You were created with a crystal that has the ability to absorb other energy sources. Dad and I used your crystal to absorb some of the Blue Core's energy to activate you."  
"Where is it?" Uran asked.  
"It's hidden in a panel behind your chest." I told her.  
Uran looked down, then unbuttoned the top of her dress.  
"How do I activate it?" She asked.  
"Just press down on it with your hand." I explained.  
She did, and a panel opened up, exposing her crystal. She looked at it.  
"It's pretty." She said.  
"Yes, it is." I said.  
"I like yours better." She said. "Wanna trade?"  
"No." I replied.  
She pouted.  
Dad sighed. "Well, I guess we're gonna have to fix the generator. Can someone open up the window so we can get some light in here."  
"On it." One of the scientists said. She walked over to the panel, then pressed another button. Instantly, all of the windows open up, allowing sunlight to come in. I closed my panel, and Uran did the same thing.  
"Great." Dad said. "That's something else I gotta pay for."  
Uran giggled nervously.  
I sighed.  
AN 1: Well, I hoped you all liked Chapter 9. Tell me what you think.


	10. Humiliation

Astro's POV:  
When I woke up the next morning, I found Dad sitting on the couch, which was strange. Usually, he's at work by the time I get up.  
"Hi, Dad." I greeted. "I'm surprised that you're not at work."  
"I'm off for the rest of the week." Dad told me.  
"Why?" I asked. "Since you're the head of the Ministry of Science, I thought you couldn't get into trouble."  
"I can't." Dad said. "I'm off for the rest of the week because Uran destroyed the Ministry's power. Until the robot electricians fix the power, we can't get any work done. Even the robots."  
"When will the power get fixed?" I asked.  
"I don't know." Dad replied. "Hopefully by the end of the week at most."  
"Well, that's good, right?" I said. "You probably could use a day off."  
Dad got kind of stern all of a sudden. "Astro, because of Uran's destructive behavior, I had to fix multiple windows and now I gotta pay to fix the Ministry's power. I need all the money I can get right now. To make matters worse, the Ministry was forced to go on a budget. Everyone's paycheck is gonna have to be cut, including mine, until we can pay everything off."  
"I know, Dad." I replied kind of forlornly. "I'm sure everything will work out."  
"I'm sure it will, Astro." Dad said. "It's just stressful at the moment."  
At that point, Uran came in.  
"Is breakfast ready?" She asked.  
"Not yet." Dad told her.  
"Morning, Uran." I greeted.  
"Morning." She repeated.  
"What are you doing?" Uran asked.  
"Me?" I asked.  
"No, Dad." Uran replied.  
"Oh." Dad said. "Nothing really."  
"Why?" She asked.  
"Because you destroyed the power at the Ministry." Dad replied, clearly trying to control his anger.  
"So?" Uran said. "Why can't you just do work here?"  
"Because we don't have the right supplies for it." Dad replied in the same annoyed tone.  
"Can't you just make them?" Uran asked.  
"It's not that simple." Dad told her. "Orrin? Is breakfast ready?"  
Orrin came in the room. "Not yet, Bill. Almost."  
"Good." Dad said.  
Orrin returned to the kitchen.  
"Hungry?" Uran asked.  
"Kind of." Dad said.  
"Why don't we just watch some TV together?" I suggested, hoping that Uran doesn't catch on to what Dad really wants.  
"I guess so." Dad said, turning on the TV.  
"In other news, the Ministry of Science is currently down for the next few days on account of an incident that took place." A news reporter said.  
"It appears that Dr. Tenma was trying to get his new robotic daughter, Uran, to control her powers at the Ministry, and she ended up frying the system's circuits." Another reporter said.  
"Dr. Tenma should just stick with building robots, not raising them." The first reporter said.  
"Yeah, that would be smart." The other reporter said.  
Noticing that Dad looked like a volcano that was about to erupt, I decided to shut the TV off.  
"Oh, great." Dad said sarcastically. "It's not enough that the Ministry is down for the next few days, but now I'm a laughing stock."  
"Hopefully, nobody we know saw it." I said.  
Hamegg's POV:  
I couldn't stop laughing. Seeing Tenma ridiculed on TV almost makes it worth it that Uran nearly killed me. Wait. Didn't the newscaster just say that Tenma's daughter was Uran? Then, that means that Astro...  
Oh, son of a...  
Cora's POV:  
Well, that was embarrassing. Astro's Dad was just humiliated on TV. Poor Astro. Poor Uran. This must be humiliating for them. Guess I'll call Astro later and see how he's doing. I probably should ask how Uran is doing as well. She may have nearly killed Hamegg, but she's still a person- uh, robot- I mean, robot that looks like a person.  
I sighed. This is getting confusing.  
Zane's POV:  
I was eating breakfast (and watching TV) with my new family, then suddenly a news report came on the screen about Dr. Tenma, who is apparently Astro (and Uran's) father. Wow. Did he get humiliated!  
"Zane, isn't your friend Astro Dr. Tenma's son?" Mom asked, recognizing the name.  
"Yes, he is." I replied. "Tenma and his family must be humiliated."  
"I'll bet." Dad said. "Should we check on them?"  
"I'll call Astro after breakfast." I said.  
"All right, Zane." Dad said.  
With that, I went back to eating my breakfast. I must say, it's nice to eat something besides takeout pizza for a change.  
Third Person's POV:  
Sludge and Widget just saw the news report. Both of their mouths were wide open. When the news report ended, they both laughed.  
"Wow." Sludge said. "That was humiliating for Astro and his family, but it was also kind of funny."  
"I wonder what Astro's dad would say if he saw the news report." Widget said.  
"I wonder what Hamegg would say if he saw it." Sludge said. "He hates Dr. Tenma."  
"He's probably laughing his head off." Widget said.  
"Do you think he saw it?" Sludge asked.  
"Probably." Widget said. "Because he can't leave his bed for the next few days, he's probably spending his time just watching TV."  
"We probably won't know." Sludge said.  
"Should we call Astro to see how things are going?" Widget asked.  
"Probably." Sludge said.  
"I wonder how they're reacting to this." Widget said.  
Astro's POV:  
Some time later, I got a call from Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge. Apparently, they all saw the news report, too. Understandably, Dad is pretty livid right now. Not only is he humiliated that his daughter destroyed the power at the Ministry of Science, but the news reporters just called him a bad parent live on TV. All of Metro City probably saw it.  
Anyway, Uran and I are gonna meet up with Cora, Sludge, Widget, and Sludge later. In the meantime, I'm having a talk with Uran.  
"You know, Uran." I said. "It's not your fault. Accidents happen."  
"I know." Uran said. "I just feel like Dad hates me for it."  
"He doesn't hate you." I assured her. "He's just mad right now. Watch. It's only gonna be temporary."  
"What if it isn't?" Uran asked.  
"Trust me, it won't." I said. "Dad gets mad at me temporarily, too. It'll eventually end. A lot of parents act that way."  
"Okay, I believe you." Uran said.  
I smiled. "Let's just go meet Cora, Sludge, Widget, and Zane. It'll give Dad some time to cool off."  
AN: Well, there's Chapter 10. Sorry it took so long to update. Honestly, I got writer's block. I'll try to write a longer one next time.


	11. Déjà Vu

Astro's POV:  
Cora, Zane, Widget, Sludge, and I agreed to meet in the park again. Of course, Uran's coming, too. When we got there, they were already waiting for us.  
"Hey, guys." I greeted. "Why are your hands behind your back, Cora?"  
"Oh, it's nothing." Cora replied.  
She showed me her hand, revealing that there was a present in her hand.  
"It's for you." She told me.  
"Really?" I said. "What's the occasion?"  
It's not my "birthday," nor a holiday. What could the gift be for?  
"It's to console you." Cora said. "You know, because of what happened."  
"Well, thanks." I said, taking the gift from her.  
I raised an eyebrow. What could they possibly give me to make me feel better?  
"Is this another of your pranks?" I asked.  
"A prank?" Cora said. "Of course not, Astro. Don't be ridiculous."  
I looked at Zane; he just smiled. Then, I looked at Sludge and Widget. I could tell they were trying not to snicker. Okay, now I'm suspicious!  
Not taking any chances, I decided to scan the gift. All I could see in it was a book. A book? What kind of a book could it be? They don't know my taste in literature, so what kind of a book is it?  
I unwrapped the gift and held up the book. The book was called "How to Understand Peoples' Feelings" by someone named Courtney Wilma Zander-Sinclair.  
"Courtney Wilma Zander-Sinclair?" I read out loud, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, I get it. The 'author's' initials are the first letter of each of your name."  
They laughed.  
"Wow." Cora said. "I can't believe you figured that out."  
"How did you figure it out?" Widget asked.  
"Next time, don't handwrite it." I said. "I can tell Zane wrote it because the word 'how' is spelled wrong."  
"How's it spelled, then?" Zane asked.  
"H-O-W." I told him.  
"How'd he spell it?" Uran asked.  
"H-E-W." I told her. I turned to the others. "Did you guys wanted me to give this to my Dad?"  
"Not really." Sludge said. "It's actually my math workbook. Can I have it back? I need it for a test on Monday."  
I gently tore off the cover, revealing a math textbook. I could tell that it was for someone around his age because of its design. Instantly, I handed it back to him.  
"Look, guys, it's not funny." I insisted. "Dad's stressed out for financial reasons and now he was humiliated on television."  
"Sorry, Astro." Sludge said. "It was kind of funny."  
"To you, yes." I said. "But not to Dad. It's hard for Uran and me, too."  
"We're sorry, Astro." Cora said.  
"Let's just drop it, okay?" I said.  
"Fine." Zane said. "So, what do you guys wanna do?"  
"I don't know." I said. "I really just came to talk to you guys."  
"We could-" Uran started to say. "Birdie!"  
I turned in her direction. Sure enough, there was a bird nearby. A blue jay, to be precise. Oh no! Not again! Uran started to chase after the bird.  
"Uran!" I said. "Get back here."  
I started to chase after her.  
Third Person POV:  
Cora, Sludge, Widget, and Zane stared at Astro as he rushed after his sister.  
"Again?" Cora said. "Is it just me, or does every time we see Uran, something happens?"  
"Seems like it." Zane agreed.  
"Should we help Astro find Uran?" Sludge asked.  
"Can we?" Widget asked. "I wanna see what happens."  
Cora sighed. "Fine."  
"Yay!" Widget and Sludge said in unison.  
They started to chase after Astro and Uran.  
"You don't think they're gonna fly do you?" Zane asked. "I mean, if the bird flies, Uran is probably gonna fly after it."  
"Probably." Cora said.  
"Then what?" Zane asked.  
"I guess we'll just leave it to Astro." Cora said.  
"C'mon, guys." Sludge called ahead of them. "Catch up!"  
Astro's POV:  
"Uran! Get back here!" I called. "Dad doesn't wanna pay for another broken window!"  
Uran ignored me.  
"Uran! I'm serious!" I said. "Get back here!"  
Uran still didn't respond or stop. I can tell that she can hear me, but she's just ignoring me.  
"All right. That does it!" I said.  
I activated my rocket boots, then flew through the air towards her. Uran didn't notice me until I grabbed her shoulder and forced her to stop.  
"Hey! Let go!" Uran said.  
"Forget it." I said. "I told you to stop."  
"I didn't wanna." Uran said.  
"Uran, you can't just run off whenever you want." I said, ignoring her. "You can get hurt."  
"I'm a powerful robot." Uran insisted. "I can take care of myself."  
"So am I." I said. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not vulnerable."  
"Let go!" She said.  
"I will if you promise not to run off like that." I said.  
"Fine." She said.  
I let go of her shoulder, and she started to look around her.  
"Where did the bird go?" Uran asked.  
"It probably flew off." I told her. "Birds don't usually like to be chased, especially by something that's bigger than them."  
"I'm gonna find the bird." Uran said.  
"Oh no, you're not!" I said.  
"Too bad." Uran said.  
With that, she started to fly into the air. I activated my rocket boots and quickly caught up to her.  
"Let go!" Uran said for the thousandth time.  
"I will if you promise not to run off." I said. This is starting to get annoying.  
"Fine!" Uran said.  
"I don't believe you." I said.  
"Can you believe this?" Uran asked.  
With that, she grabbed me by the arm and flung me to the ground.  
"Ow!" I yelled. "Uran, have you lost your mind?!"  
"No." Uran said, landing next to me. "Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna go find some animals."  
"I'm coming with you, then." I said.  
"No!" Uran said.  
"I don't wanna hurt you." I told her.  
"What makes you think you can?" Uran asked.  
I sighed. "Uran, try to understand that I'm just trying to protect you."  
"Try to understand that I don't need it!" Uran said.  
"You're impossible, you know that?" I told her.  
"I don't need you to protect me." Uran said. "I can prove it."  
"How?" I asked.  
"By doing this!" Uran said.  
With that, she punched me. I landed on the edge of Metro City. I moaned in pain, then noticed Uran above me. I dodged just as she was about to punch me again. I quickly flew in the air in front of her.  
"Uran, are you in your right mind?" I asked. "You can't just attack people whenever you want."  
Uran caught me off guard, then punched me again. This time, I fell off the edge. I activated my rocket boots just before I hit the ground. After regaining balance, I realized where I was: the Surface. Great. Can it get any better?  
With that, Uran punched me again, knocking me to the ground.  
"Uran, knock it off." I said after I got up. "You've really gone too far this time. Dad said that we can't go to the Surface any more."  
"Why not?" Uran asked, floating in front of me. "I like the Surface."  
"So do I." I said. "But Dad's afraid of what Hamegg might do to us."  
"Hamegg?" Uran said. "That guy that was captured by the Robot Revolutionary Front?"  
"Yeah." I said.  
"How's he a threat?" Uran asked. "He's totally useless. What's he gonna do?"  
"This!" Came a voice.  
I turned in the direction of the voice, and saw Hamegg, just before he blasted me. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that he had the robotic cattle prod in his hand. How? I destroyed it! Before I could think anymore, I passed out...  
Uran's POV:  
I stared at my brother in surprise. Then, I turned to Hamegg angrily.  
"What did you do?!" I demanded. "You could have killed him!"  
"Don't worry. He's fine." Hamegg insisted.  
"You're not gonna be when I'm done with you!" Uran said. "I'm gonna hurt you twice as bad as before!"  
"Bring it!" Hamegg said.  
Third Person POV:  
Uran flew over to him, with her body simultaneously in a punching position. Before she could hit him, Hamegg zapped her with the robotic cattle prod. Uran screamed, then fell to the ground unconscious.  
Hamegg's POV:  
Well, that went better than expected. I should have known from the moment I realized that Astro was a robot that he was created by Dr. Tenma. The thought never occurred to me. Why I'll never know.  
After seeing that news report about Tenma, I realized that Astro (and his sister) might still be of use to me. After recovering from Uran's attack, I made another robotic cattle prod, this time, it's made out of a harder metal to destroy. Did Astro really think I wasn't smart enough or skilled enough to make another one? There are broken robots literally all over the Surface. Of course, I had the resources to make another one.  
I walked over to Uran and Astro's unconscious forms. This could be a nice opportunity for a little revenge. Not just on Tenma, but also on Astro for ruining the Robot Games for me, and Uran for nearly killing me.  
I patted my pocket to make sure that the microchips were still there. I smiled, then carried their bodies into my lair.  
Third Person POV:  
Unknown to Hamegg, ZOG had witnessed the whole thing. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to save Astro or Uran. What should he do? Could he just destroy Hamegg's lair and free them? He's definitely large and powerful enough to do it. Unfortunately, he can't. He might accidentally crush Astro and Uran in the process.  
ZOG looked at the ground, and he noticed some rocks. Afterward, he looked at Hamegg's lair and noticed some newspapers next to a bunch of trash cans. On the other side of the lair were a few pine trees that have started to grow back, with fresh sap on the side of them.  
An idea came to ZOG's head, even though he knew it was risky, but it was the only thing he could come up with. If there's anything that Astro has taught him, it's that you should help others if they help you, and you shouldn't kill people (even if they deserve it). ZOG decided to spring his plan into action, but in order to prevent from getting seen (and hurting others), he'll have to wait until tonight...  
AN 1: I hoped you all enjoyed Chapter 11. Tell me what you think. Hopefully, this chapter turned out to be better than the last one.


	12. Capture

Astro's POV:  
I don't know why, but when I woke up, I had trouble remembering what had happened. It's strange, I remember having an intense argument with Uran, then I remember feeling pain. It was like I was struck by lightning- oh no. Does that mean?  
I looked around and noticed Uran next to me. We were both tied up to a pillar. We were chained to them by wires. I realized what must have happened. We were attacked by Hamegg. Yeah, that was what happened. I remember that he hit me with the robotic cattle prod. Where did he get it, anyway? I destroyed it beyond repair. I can't worry about that right now, I gotta make sure that Uran is all right.  
"Uran?" I said softly, turning in her direction.  
She didn't respond.  
"Uran?" I repeated.  
I tried to move my arm.  
The problem is, I can't move too well because of the wires. Maybe I can break them. I started to move, but then I heard a voice.  
"Don't even bother, Astro." A voice said. "You nor Uran can escape from those bonds."  
I looked up and saw Hamegg standing in front of me.  
"Why did you do that for?" I demanded.  
"To get revenge on you, your sister, and your father." Hamegg replied.  
"What did my Dad do to you?" I asked.  
"He fired me." Hamegg said.  
"Seriously, Hamegg." I said. "Just get over it. What's done is done."  
"I don't forgive easily," Hamegg said. "You did save my life, and I am grateful for that. So I'll make this easier for you, as long as you cooperate."  
"What do you want from me?" I asked.  
"You're my key to getting revenge on your father," Hamegg replied. "I'm sure Dr. Tenma cares about you. I can use that to my advantage."  
"What are you gonna do to Uran?" I asked.  
"I might zap her with my robotic cattle prod." Hamegg said. "Teach her a lesson or two."  
"Forget it." I said.  
With that, I started to pull on the wires to free myself. Suddenly, Hamegg took out a remote from his pocket and pressed a button. Electricity started to flow through the wires.  
"AHHH!" I screamed.  
Suddenly, the pain stopped, and so did the electricity.  
"The wires are made from a very conductible metal." Hamegg told me. "This remote in my hand allows me to control them. The one on top of the remote controls your wires, and the one on the bottom control Uran's. If you don't want your circuits fried, you'll do as I say."  
I sighed. "Fine. Just don't hurt Uran."  
"I won't." Hamegg said. "As long as she can follow directions."  
I scowled at Hamegg. He laughed and walked away.  
"I'll be back later." Hamegg said before leaving. "I've installed security cameras all over the place. I can see you from anywhere in the building. If either of you so much as move, except to experience the shock of your life."  
With that, Hamegg left. Roughly a second later, Uran woke up.  
"Wha-what happened?" Uran asked. "Where are we?"  
"We're in Hamegg's lair." I told her. "He zapped us with his robotic cattle prod."  
"Oh, yeah." Uran said. "I remember. I'm gonna kill him!"  
"Uran, don't move!" I warned. "Hamegg created a remote that can control the flow of electricity through the wires. If we so much as move, he'll zap us!"  
Uran looked at the wires that held her in place. "I think I can still move my arm. Can't we just destroy the cameras with our arm cannons?"  
"I wouldn't." I told her. "If the cameras get destroyed, Hamegg will know something's up. He's smart enough to."  
Uran closed her eyes. "What are we gonna do?"  
"I don't know." I said. "I guess we'll just wait until we can think of something."  
"Can-Can Hamegg hear what we're saying?" Uran asked.  
I glanced at a security camera. "I honestly don't know. I can't tell how advanced the cameras are."  
"Astro?" Uran said.  
"Yeah?" I said.  
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you." Uran said. "I really thought I could take care of myself. I guess I was wrong."  
I smiled. "It's okay, Uran. Just try not to do anything foolish until we figure out what to do."  
Uran sighed. "Fine."  
I noticed that Uran looked like she was about to cry (which I'm not sure she's actually capable of doing). Upon instinct, even though it may literally kill me, I moved my hand to hold hers.  
Uran's face softened when she realized I held her hand. She smiled at me.  
Dr. Tenma's POV:  
"Where could they be?" I asked. "It's almost six o'clock at night. They should have returned hours ago."  
"Maybe they thought that they should get out of your hair for a while." Orrin suggested. "Maybe they're just gonna stay out for a little while longer."  
"Astro knows me by now." I said. "He should have known that I would have calmed down by now. Maybe something has happened to them."  
"I don't think so." Orrin said. "They are powerful robots, you know. Don't you think you're over-exaggerating? Just a little bit?"  
I sighed. "Maybe. Remember, Orrin, I'm a father. That's what we do when it comes to our children's safety."  
Orrin laughed. "Well, I'll never know, will I?"  
I softened a little bit. "Maybe you're right, Orrin. However, just in case, I'll wait another hour. If Astro and Uran aren't home by then, I'm gonna go look for them myself. If I still can't find them, I'm gonna call the police."  
Third Person POV:  
Meanwhile, on the Surface, ZOG was putting his plan into action. Carefully, he lifted up the newspapers, then skimmed through them until he found the words he wanted. He knew that if he tried to rip the words out of the newspaper, he'll accidentally rip through them, too. So he decided to just fold the paper so only the important words show. Of course, since he only has one hand, he's gonna need to fold it using the ground.  
After he found most of the words that he needs (help, kidnapped, captured, ham, egg, astronaut, uranium, etc.), he placed them under a rock so they wouldn't blow away in the wind. Then, he started to gather as much decently sized rocks as he could, being careful not to crush them.  
When he was finished, he gathered all of the rocks that he found and placed them near the pine trees. Afterward, he went over to the rock that held the folded newspapers in place. He placed his hand gently on the end of the newspapers, then lifted the rock off of them. He held the newspapers in his hand, then went back to the pine trees.  
Carefully, he started to rub the newspapers on the side of the trees, making sure that they ended up having tree sap on them. Then, he placed them on the rocks. As expected, the newspapers stuck to the rocks. The sap was so sticky that the newspapers didn't get blown away by the wind.  
Satisfied, ZOG placed all of the rocks in his hand and looked up at Metro City.  
"Please work." He said out loud to himself.  
With that, he threw the rocks as hard as he could. The rocks flew through the air, with the newspapers still attached to them. The rocks flew higher and higher into the air, coming closer and closer to Metro City. ZOG watched them. After a while, he could tell that he threw them perfectly! The rocks will without a doubt land on Metro City.  
"Please find them..." ZOG said out loud.  
The next morning, Cora woke up. She got out of bed and went into the living room, where her parents were watching TV.  
"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad." Cora greeted. "What are you watching?"  
"The news." Her mother replied.  
"Can I watch, too?" Cora asked.  
"Be my guest." Her father replied.  
Cora sat down on the couch next to them.  
"In other news, a bunch of rocks was found near the edge of Metro City." A news reporter said. "Some of them had newspapers attached to them. It appears that they all did at one point, but the newspapers fell off of them. Some nearby."  
"It's very strange, but the Metro City police are ruling it as a prank of some sort." Another news reporter said. "We now go live to Snoopy Scoop for further investigation."  
"Currently, I'm at the edge of Metro City, where most of the rocks have been found." Snoopy Scoop said. "I've also talked with a local police officer who's investigating the scene."  
He turned to a police officer next to him.  
"Officer Judy, what do you know about these mysterious rocks?" He asked.  
"Honestly, not much." Officer Judy admitted. "Some of the rocks had newspapers attached to them. They seemed to be folded so that only certain words showed.  
"What kind of words?" Snoopy Scoop asked.  
"Words like 'help,' 'astronaut,' and 'uranium.'" Officer Judy replied. "There may be more rocks with more newspapers attached to them, but this is all we found so far."  
"Are you sure this is a prank?" Snoopy Scoop asked.  
"Most likely, yet." Officer Judy said. "When we scanned the newspapers, there were no fingerprints on them. If someone really needed help, I don't think they would have hidden their fingerprints so well."  
"So you have no idea who may have done it?" Snoopy Scoop asked.  
"Not a clue." Officer Judy said. "It could be one person, or it could be multiple. I don't think it's really anything to worry about. Just a 'harmless' prank, probably. Probably by a couple of teenagers that wanted a little fun."  
Cora noticed the rocks in the background. She raised an eyebrow.  
Her father must have noticed. "What's the matter, Cora?"  
"Those rocks." Cora said.  
"What about them?" Her mother asked.  
"Um, nothing." Cora replied. "I'll be right back."  
Cora went into her room and took out her cell phone. She started to call Astro.  
Meanwhile, Astro and Uran were still tied up to the pillars. Suddenly Astro's cell phone started to ring. He tried to reach for it (very slowly so Hamegg wouldn't notice), but he couldn't.  
Suddenly, Hamegg came into the room. He rushed over to Astro, then fished the phone out of his pocket. Hamegg pressed the "decline" button on Astro's phone, and his phone stopped ringing.  
"I almost forgot that you had a cell phone, Astro." Hamegg said. "I'll take it off your hands."  
With that, Hamegg left the room again, taking Astro's cell phone with him. He went to his bedroom.  
"Because of technology nowadays, Tenma can just find Astro with his cell phone." Hamegg said to himself. "I'll just rewire it so Tenma can't trace its signal. Maybe I can also force Astro to say pre-recorded messages so his father doesn't suspect that he's missing..."  
Meanwhile, Cora was still in her room.  
"He won't answer." Cora said to herself. "He must be busy. Guess I'll just call Zane, then."  
With that, Cora called Zane.  
"Hello?" Zane said when he picked up.  
"Hey, Zane. It's Cora." Cora said.  
"Hey." Zane said. "What's going on?"  
"Did you see the news?" Cora asked.  
"You mean the one about the rocks?" Zane asked.  
"Yeah." Cora said.  
"What about it?" Zane asked.  
"Meet me in the park in half an hour." Cora said.  
"Why?" Zane asked.  
"Just do it!" Cora snapped.  
"All right! All right!" Zane said. "Geez."  
"Good." Cora said. "I'm gonna call Sludge and Widget and tell them to come, too."  
"Okay, I guess." Zane said.  
With that, I hung up. I don't know why, but I can't help but feel like something is up...  
AN 1: Well, that's chapter 12. I hope that you all liked it. Tell me what you think.  
AN 2: just so you know, I got the name Snoopy Scoop and Judy from the Wikipedia page that lists the Astro Boy characters (not just from the movie). I decided to reuse the names.


	13. Realizations

Cora's POV:  
Zane, Sludge, and Widget agreed to meet me at the park.  
"What's this all about, Cora?" Zane asked.  
"You know what it's about." I replied.  
"Those stupid rocks?" Zane asked.  
"Yes, those stupid rocks." I replied in annoyance.  
"What about them?" Sludge asked.  
"Haven't you noticed anything strange about them?" I asked.  
"No." Widget said. "They're just usual everyday rocks."  
I sighed and put my hand on my face. "Okay. Let me put it this way. Where have we seen those types of rocks before?"  
"I haven't seen rocks like that here." Widget said.  
"That's my point." I said.  
Zane's eyes widened. "We've seen those rocks on the Surface!"  
"Yes!" I said. "Finally! Someone gets it!"  
"So those rocks came from the Surface?" Sludge asked.  
"Yeah." I said. "Probably."  
"So the pranksters came from the Surface?" Widget asked.  
"Either that or they somehow just got the rocks from the Surface." Zane said.  
"If that was true, why would they pull the prank now?" I asked. "It's been months since Metro City was placed in the sky again."  
"Maybe someone just went to the Surface and brought the rocks back." Widget suggested.  
"C'mon, guys. Get real." I said. "No one from Metro City except me, Astro, and probably Hamegg knows the Surface well enough to find this much rocks."  
Zane sighed. "Fine. I'm convinced. So who did this? The RRF?"  
"No." I said. "There's no way that this could help them 'free' all robots. Even they have to realize that."  
"Didn't the rocks have newspapers attached to them?" Widget asked.  
"Yeah." I said. "Oddly, they were folded so only one word showed."  
"What were the words?" Sludge asked.  
"'Help,' 'astronaut,' and 'uranium.'" I replied. "There may be others, though."  
"Excuse me?" Said a voice.  
We turned to the voice and saw a robot standing there. I think I know him.  
"Hi." I said. "Aren't you Dr. Tenma's robotic butler?"  
"Yes, I am." He replied. "We've met before."  
"Oh, that's right." I said. "I remember now. What was your name, again?"  
"It's Orrin." he replied. "I"m sorry. I must have forgotten to tell you my name."  
"Don't worry about it." Sludge said.  
"Anyway, have any of you seen Astro or Uran?" Orrin asked.  
I frowned. "No, why?"  
"Dr. Tenma and I have no idea where they are." Orrin said. "Neither of them came home last night. The police are currently looking for them."  
"I thought I heard police sirens when I came here." Zane said.  
Orrin looked nervous. "Bill is very worried. If any of you see either of them, tell them that Bill wants them home right away."  
"Who's Bill?" Widget asked.  
"Astro's father." Orrin replied. "That's his first name. I'm still at a loss about what to call him myself, but he told me to call him Bill. It's actually pretty uncomfortable for me. Well, I better go. Thanks again."  
With that, Orrin left, leaving us alone.  
"Astro and Uran are missing?" Widget said.  
"I called Astro this morning, but he didn't answer." I said. "That explains why."  
"Should we worry?" Sludge asked.  
"I wouldn't." Zane said. "He's probably just still dealing with Uran. That's probably why they haven't come home yet."  
"Maybe." I said. "It doesn't sound like Astro, though. He probably should have dealt with Uran by now."  
Suddenly, I remembered something.  
"Uh, guys." I said. "Didn't one of the rocks had the word 'help' on it?"  
"Yeah." Zane said. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "You don't think-"  
"How do we know Astro and Uran really need help?" Widget asked. "It could have been anyone."  
"Guys, some of the other words that were attached to the rocks were 'astronaut' and 'uranium.'" I said.  
"So?" Zane said.  
"Don't you guys get it?" I asked. "Astronaut and uranium."  
All of their eyes widened.  
"So, they really do need help." Widget realized.  
"Yeah. No kidding." I said.  
"So what do we do?" Sludge asked.  
"Let's go tell Dr. Tenma." I suggested.  
"Shouldn't we tell the police first?" Zane asked.  
"No." I said. "It's more important that we tell Dr. Tenma. That way, if Astro or Uran are damaged in any way, Tenma will be able to help them quicker."  
"Yeah, I guess." Zane said.  
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sludge asked. "Let's go!"  
Dr. Tenma's POV:  
I don't get it. Where could Astro and Uran be? They've been missing since last night. It's unlike Astro. Uran, I'm not too sure yet.  
Suddenly, Orrin came in.  
"Any sign of them?" I asked.  
"None." Orrin replied. "I've even found their friends. None of them even know where they are."  
"This isn't good." I said.  
"Do you think someone kidnapped them?" Orrin asked.  
"I don't know." I admitted. "Astro and Uran are both unaffected by the Laws of Robotics. They can fight back if they must. Also, I've given them both very advanced weaponry. They should be able to protect themselves."  
"Maybe we're wrong, then." Orrin suggested. "Maybe nothing bad has actually happened."  
"Orrin, there's no way Astro would stay out this late." I said. "He's too obedient about these kind of things. The only explanation I have is something has happened to him and Uran."  
"In that case, we should just let the police handle it." Orrin said. "They'll find them."  
"I hope you're right." I said. "I already lost one child, I won't lose anymore!"  
At that point, the doorbell rang. Orrin went to answer it.  
Third Person POV:  
"Hello?" Orrin greeted as he answered the door. "Oh, it's you guys! What brings you here? Did you find Astro?"  
"No, we didn't." Cora said. "Can we talk to Dr. Tenma?"  
Orrin frowned nervously. "I don't think that's a good idea. Dr. Tenma is nearly in a state of hysterics because of Astro and Uran's disappearance."  
"It concerns Astro." Zane told him.  
Orrin looked at him, then thought it over.  
"Well, in that case, come in." Orrin said.  
"Thank you." Widget said.  
Zane, Widget, Sludge, and Cora came in. When they came into the living room, Dr. Tenma looked up at them.  
"Aren't you Astro's friends?" He asked.  
"Yeah." Zane said. "We are."  
"What are you all doing here?" Dr. Tenma asked. "Have you found Astro and Uran?"  
"We think so." Sludge told him.  
Dr. Tenma raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean 'you think so?'"  
"Did you see the news this morning?" Cora asked.  
"No." Dr. Tenma replied, starting to get annoyed. "I've been too busy trying to find my son and my daughter!"  
"Calm down!" Cora said. "We think the news report and Astro and Uran's disappearance may be connected."  
"What are you talking about?" Dr. Tenma demanded.  
"This morning, rocks were discovered on the edge of Metro City." Cora told him. "Most of them had newspapers on it. They were folded so only certain words show."  
"Some of them said 'help,' 'uranium,' and 'astronaut.'" Widget said.  
Dr. Tenma raised an eyebrow, then looked at the ground. "'Uranium' and 'astronaut?'"  
"Dr. Tenma remained silent for a moment, then his eyes widened. "Uranium and astronaut?!"  
"Bingo." Cora said.  
Dr. Tenma sat down.  
"So something did happen to them." Orrin realized.  
"That's what we think." Cora said.  
"Did the rocks say anything else?" Dr. Tenma asked. "Possibly a clue where they are?"  
"They didn't." Sludge told him.  
"However, we recognized the rocks." Cora said. "They come from the Surface."  
"The Surface?!" Dr. Tenma exploded. "I told Astro not to go there! Why am I not surprised?!"  
"I'm sure he didn't wanna go there." I assured him.  
Dr. Tenma seemed to calm down. "Nevermind. I think I know who kidnapped them."  
"Who?" Sludge asked.  
"Hamegg!" Dr. Tenma replied. "As soon as Astro told me that Hamegg lived on the Surface, I knew that Hamegg would try to do something to him!"  
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Widget asked. "Let's go help them!"  
"It's not that simple." Dr. Tenma said. "None of you know Hamegg as well as I do. He's a very brilliant guy. He always thinks things through. Rescuing Astro and Uran will be much more difficult than you may think."  
At that point, the phone went off. Dr. Tenma went to answer it. As soon as he did, a hologram of Hamegg appeared.  
"Hamegg!" Dr. Tenma said. "Where are Astro and Uran?!"  
"They're safe." Hamegg assured him. "For now."  
"What do you want?" Dr. Tenma demanded.  
"Just revenge, of course." Hamegg replied. Suddenly, he looked behind Dr. Tenma. "Well, look who's here... uh, there."  
"What did you do to Astro and Uran?" Cora demanded as she and the others flashed him the death glare.  
"Not much." Hamegg replied. "However, I will do a lot more if Astro, Uran, and Tenma disobey me."  
"Again, what is it that you exactly want?" Dr. Tenma asked.  
"A compromise." Hamegg said. "Here's my deal. I'll free Astro and Uran, but first, you must lie to the police and tell them that you found Astro and Uran."  
"Fine, Hamegg." Dr. Tenma said.  
"Also, you have to permanently shut down the Ministry of Science." Hamegg added.  
"What?!" Dr. Tenma cried. "Why do you want that?"  
"Simple." Hamegg replied. "I can send a message to those who wronged me, such as yourself, and you'll lose your job."  
"Have you lost your mind?" Dr. Tenma asked.  
"Have you?" Hamegg said, suddenly raising his hand. "Let me put it this way: I've tied Uran and Astro each to a metal pillar with a highly conductive wire. These buttons on this remote will allow me to send electricity through the wires. I'm sure that as a roboticist, you of all people will know the longterm effects of what that'll do to Astro and Uran."  
Dr. Tenma sighed. "Fine, Hamegg. I'll do it. Just don't do anything else to Uran or Astro."  
Hamegg smiled. "Good man. Well, I'll be seeing you. I'll give you eight hours. If the Ministry isn't permanently shut down by then, I'll fry Astro and Uran's circuits beyond repair."  
"Astro saved your life, you know." Widget reminded him.  
"I know." Hamegg said. "However, that doesn't change anything. I'll make him numb during the procedure so he can't feel anything, but I'll still fry his circuits."  
"I said I'll do it, Hamegg." Dr. Tenma said. "Don't hurt either of them!"  
"I won't. For now." Hamegg said.  
Suddenly, the phone call ended. The hologram of Hamegg vanished with it.  
"Now what?" Zane asked.  
Dr. Tenma sighed. "I'm gonna ask every member of the Ministry to meet me there."  
"You're not really gonna shut down the ministry, are you?" Widget asked.  
"I have no choice." Dr. Tenma replied. "At this point, I don't know if Hamegg is bluffing or not. Even if he isn't, I still don't know what he's capable of doing."  
"We might." Zane said.  
Dr. Tenma turned to him. "What?"  
"We used to live with Hamegg." Cora told him. "He ran an orphanage on the Surface. After the last Robot Games, we started to distrust him. Most of us ended up getting adopted by families in Metro City, and we haven't heard much of Hamegg since."  
"What are the Robot Games?" Dr. Tenma asked.  
"They were a competition that Hamegg ran." Zane replied. "Robots would battle each other until only one of them remained."  
Dr. Tenma rose an eyebrow. "And by remain, you mean-"  
"The only one not destroyed." Cora finished.  
"Did-did Hamegg make Astro participate in these games?" Dr. Tenma asked.  
"Yeah, he did." Sludge told him. "After he found out Astro was a robot."  
Dr. Tenma placed his hands on his face. He took a breath. "I swear, if Hamegg wasn't blackmailing me, I'd strangle that son of a-"  
"Woah, calm down." Cora said, raising her hands. "Let's not give Hamegg another reason to hate you."  
Tenma sighed. "Fine. I doubt he can hear me, anyway. I'm gonna go to the Ministry. You guys may stay. Orrin? Can you escort them out when they decide to leave?"  
"On it." Orrin replied.  
"Well, I'm off." Dr. Tenma said.  
With that, Tenma left, leaving the others alone.  
"Now what?" Zane asked.  
"Should we try to save Astro and Uran ourselves?" Sludge asked.  
"I don't know." Cora said. "Maybe we could find a way to disable that remote of his."  
Cora turned to Orrin. "Orrin, do you know anything about disabling remotes?"  
"Unfortunately, no, I don't." Orrin replied. "I may be a robot, but I don't know anything about assembling or disassembling them."  
"Maybe Dr. Tenma could invent something that could." Widget suggested.  
"Maybe, we should talk to him." Sludge suggested.  
"It could work." Orrin said. "Do you want me to drive you there?"  
"Yes, please." Cora replied.  
"Let's go, then." Orrin said. "We can't waste any time."  
The others nodded. Orrin led them to the car. They got in, then Orrin drove them to the Ministry.  
"Now that I think of it, I wonder how Bill's gonna get to the Ministry if I'm not driving him there." Orrin thought to himself.  
Dr. Tenma's POV:  
I started to walk to the Ministry, but then I remembered that it's gonna be a long walk. Instead, I picked up my cell phone, then called Dr. Elefun.  
"Hello?" Dr. Elefun greeted when he picked up.  
"Elefun, can you pick me up and take us to the Ministry?" I asked. "I need to talk with everyone. It's urgent."  
"No problem, Tenma." Dr. Elefun replied. "What's this about?"  
"I'll explain later." I replied before hanging up.  
I sighed. The decision I'm about to make is gonna change my life (and possibly everyone else's) forever, but it's worth it if it means I can save Astro and Uran...  
AN 1: Well, there's Chapter 13. Tell me what you think.


	14. Giving In

Third Person POV:  
"What's this all about, Tenma?" Dr. Elefun asked as he sat down.  
"It's a long story." Dr. Tenma replied. "As soon as everyone else arrives, I'll explain."  
Roughly half an hour later, the rest of the Ministry of Science showed up. They all seated themselves around the table in the conference room.  
"Thank you all for coming." Dr. Tenma greeted.  
"What's the problem?" Another scientist asked.  
"To make a long story short, I'm closing the Ministry of Science permanently." Dr. Tenma replied.  
Instantly, all of the other scientists' eyes widened. Some of them gasped.  
"But, why?" Dr. Elefun asked.  
"Because Hamegg is blackmailing me." Dr. Tenma replied.  
"Hamegg?" A third scientist exclaimed. "Wasn't he that scientist that used to work with us, before you fired him?"  
"Unfortunately, yes." Dr. Tenma replied.  
"What exactly did he do?" A fourth scientist asked.  
"He captured Astro and Uran!" Dr. Tenma replied. "He's threatening to destroy them unless I give in to his demands."  
"Which are?" The second scientist asked.  
"To permanently shut down the Ministry and to lie to the police." Dr. Tenma replied.  
"You're not really gonna lie to the police, are you?" A Fifth scientist asked. "Lying to the police is a criminal offense."  
"I have no choice." Dr. Tenma told her. "Unless I give in to Hamegg's demands, he'll electrify Uran and Astro. Knowing you guys, I know that none of you want that to happen."  
The other scientists looked at each other briefly (including Dr. Elefun).  
"I think I can safely say that you're right about that." Dr. Elefun said.  
Tenma smiled. "I'm glad. I hope that you all understand."  
"We do, Tenma." A sixth scientist said. "Some of us have children of our own, myself included. I don't know about the rest of them, but I would do the same thing as you."  
Tenma smiled. Then, he frowned and sighed.  
"Also, can the rest of you do me a favor?" He asked.  
"What's that, Tenma?" Dr. Elefun asked.  
"Promise me that you won't tell anyone about this." Dr. Tenma replied. "Especially the police."  
"We won't." A seventh scientist said. "But Hamegg can't get away with this."  
"I know." Dr. Tenma replied. "I want him to suffer for this, too. However, until Astro and Uran are out of his reach, I don't want to risk anything."  
"We understand." An eighth scientist said. "However, you are aware that we will all lose our jobs, including you."  
"I know." Dr. Tenma told him. "Remember, the rest of you can get another job. I'll even be a reference if you want me to."  
"We appreciate that, Tenma." The third scientist said.  
"Thank you." Dr. Tenma said. "I wish the rest of you luck. I'm sorry it came to this."  
"We are, too." Dr. Elefun replied. "But it's worth it to save Astro and Uran."  
"I appreciate it." Dr. Tenma said. "Hamegg gave me eight hours to shut down the Ministry. Only seven hours remain. So, I suggest the rest of you should pack up your things."  
Everyone got up and started to exit the conference room, with the sole exception of Dr. Tenma and Dr. Elefun.  
"It'll be all right, Tenma." Dr. Elefun insisted.  
"I know.' Dr. Tenma replied. "I'm just worried for Astro and Uran, is all."  
"I understand." Dr. Elefun said. "They're probably more all right than you realize."  
"I hope so." Dr. Tenma said.  
At that point, the doors to the conference room opened. Turning towards the door, Dr. Elefun and Dr. Tenma noticed Cora, Zane, Widget, Sludge, and Orrin standing in the doorway.  
Cora's POV:  
"What are you guys doing here?" Dr. Tenma asked.  
"We came up with a plan to save Uran and Astro." I replied.  
Dr. Tenma sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't have time for this."  
"It'll be quick." Sludge insisted.  
Dr. Tenma quickly thought it over. "Can you explain it to me on the way to my office?"  
"Sure." Zane replied.  
"Very well, then." Dr. Tenma said.  
Dr. Tenma started to head to his office. The others followed him.  
"What's this idea of yours?" Dr. Tenma asked.  
"Well, as you know, Hamegg's controlling the wires with a remote control." I said.  
"Yes, I'm aware." Dr. Tenma said.  
"Well, can't you create something that will prevent his remote from working?" I asked.  
Dr. Tenma stopped briefly, then he continued walking.  
"It's too risky." He replied.  
"You can't do it?" Widget asked.  
"No, I can." Dr. Tenma replied.  
"So, what's the problem?" Sludge asked.  
"Even if it does work, I don't know what Hamegg will do." Dr. Tenma replied. "He's smart enough to come up with a backup plan if he hasn't created one already."  
"We gotta try." I insisted.  
"Forget it." Dr. Tenma said sternly. "It's way too risky. Hamegg may even have a backup remote for all I know."  
"We gotta try." I repeated.  
"It could work, Bill." Orrin insisted.  
"I know it could." Dr. Tenma said. "It's just still too risky. I don't know what Hamegg has planned. He might have planned to do something else for all I know. Besides, he only gave me eight hours to close the Ministry. It'll take longer than that for me to create something like that."  
"Did it ever occur to you that Hamegg might be lying about freeing Astro and Uran?" Dr. Elefun asked.  
Dr. Tenma paused. "Honestly, no. It hasn't."  
"He can be deceitful and shady." I said.  
"I still feel it's safer to give in to his demands." Dr. Tenma said. "He's smart enough to consider all of the possibilities. He should know that he'll benefit more by going through with his promise."  
"So, you're just gonna let him win?" Zane asked.  
"I don't have a choice." Dr. Tenma replied. "I've already lost one child. I won't lose any more."  
At that moment, they arrived at Dr. Tenma's office. Dr. Tenma unlocked his door before entering. He didn't say a word. When he went into his office, the others could hear him lock the door.  
"What did he mean he won't lose another child?" Zane asked.  
"It's a long story." Dr. Elefun replied.  
"We don't really wanna talk about it." Orrin replied kind of forlornly.  
"But-" I started to say.  
"Please, just drop it." Dr. Elefun said softly.  
"Fine." I said. "So, now what?"  
"We'll just have to wait." Dr. Elefun replied. "Hopefully, Hamegg will keep his promise."  
"So that's it?" I said. "You're just gonna give in to Hamegg's demands? You're not gonna try to free Astro and Uran yourselves?"  
"I actually agree with Dr. Tenma on this one." Dr. Elefun replied forlornly. "Hamegg is truly a very brilliant man. He probably thought this through very thoroughly."  
"Maybe he didn't." Zane insisted.  
"Perhaps." Dr. Elefun insisted. "It's still too risky. There's no telling what'll happen to Astro and Uran if we don't follow Hamegg's directions. I'm sorry, but we're just gonna have to give in to Hamegg's demands until he frees them. Even if we still have to do more for him."  
With that, Dr. Elefun left (probably to his office to collect his things).  
"I can't believe this." I said.  
"It's probably for the best." Orrin insisted. "Hamegg sounds very dangerous. We probably should just do what he says."  
"I can't believe you're taking their side." I said. "I thought you of all people, uh, robots, would want to save Astro and Uran."  
"Trust me, I do." Orrin said. "But until we know what we're dealing with, we should just obey Hamegg's instructions."  
"Maybe we should, Cora." Zane said.  
Sludge and Widget both nodded in agreement.  
"Fine." I said.  
I took out a ten dollar bill, then handed it to Orrin. "Can you get us something to eat from the vending machine?"  
"Sure." Orrin replied. "What do you guys want?"  
"I'll have a pack of cookies." I replied  
"I want chips." Zane said.  
"Can I have fruit snacks?" Widget asked.  
"Can I have chips, too?" Sludge asked.  
"Got it." Orrin replied. "I'll be right back."  
Orrin left to go find a vending machine. I'm sure glad that he's a butler robot!  
I took out a piece of paper. "Do any of you guys have a pen or a pencil?"  
"Yeah, here." Sludge replied, handing me a pencil.  
"Thanks." I replied.  
Quickly, I wrote a note. I folded the top of the paper, then placed it on the top of a nearby chair.  
The others walked over to it.  
"What does it say?" Zane asked, still unable to read.  
"I don't know." Widget said. "What does it say, Cora?"  
"It says, 'we went to the bathroom. We'll be right back. Cora." I replied.  
"But, I don't need the bathroom." Zane said.  
"Me neither." Sludge said.  
"I don't, either." I said. "It's just to throw Orrin off our track."  
"What are you talking about?" Zane asked.  
"We're gonna search around the Ministry." I replied. "Hopefully, we can find something to free Astro and Uran."  
"But, Dr. Tenma and Dr. Elefun won't help us." Widget said.  
"I know." I said. "Maybe they have something lying around that could help us."  
"Like what?" Zane asked sarcastically. "A robotic broom to clean up Astro and Uran's remains?"  
"It can't hurt." I insisted. "Worst comes to worst, we just won't find anything."  
"How can we find anything without being seen?" Widget asked. "There's probably still scientists in this building. We'll get caught."  
"Maybe they won't." I said. "We just gotta be casual. Even if they do spot us, they won't suspect anything."  
Zane sighed. "Fine. What happens if we do find anything?"  
"We'll see if we can use it." I replied.  
"How do we know its purpose?" Sludge asked.  
"We'll worry about that later." I replied.  
Zane sighed again. "All right. Let's do it."  
I smiled. "Split up. See if you can find anything interesting. Just make it look like you're not stealing anything, and whatever you do, don't use it yet."  
"On it." Sludge said.  
With that, we all left to go look around. Hopefully, we'll find something useful!  
"Hey, Sludge." I said. "Why do you have a pencil if you can't even read yet?"  
Third Person POV:  
After Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge left, Orrin came back, carrying a bunch of snacks in his metallic hands.  
"I'm back!" Orrin exclaimed. "Where-where did they go?"  
Roughly a second later, Orrin noticed the note placed on top of the chair. He quickly read it.  
"Oh. Okay." Orrin said with a smile. "I'll just wait here for them. I hope they can find the bathroom."  
AN 1: Sorry I haven't update in a while. I hope that this chapter makes up for it. Tell me what you think. I had computer problems. However, they're fixed now. So I can start to update more frequently again.


	15. The Search

Cora's POV:  
Well, the plan was probably easier said than done. Not only do I not know where anything is, but I also don't even know what kind of robots or equipment the Ministry creates! There's gotta be a room somewhere. Hopefully, one that's not occupied...  
Wait, there's a room coming up. Maybe there's something useful in there. I opened the door and realized that it was a closet. I closed it furiously.  
"Unbelievable!" I said. "I can't find anything in here!"  
Turning around, I noticed a security camera in the hallway. Great! I hope no one is suspecting anything.  
"Well, the bathroom wasn't in there." I said, hoping that whoever's watching on the security camera might buy it. "I guess I should have realized that since there's no sign on the door."  
I should have known that the Ministry had security cameras! Why am I not surprised? I better warn the others. Hopefully, none of them has been caught. Suddenly, I actually did arrive at a bathroom. I decided to go in it, especially since I know for a fact that there won't be any cameras in there (at least I hope).  
After entering the bathroom, I decided to call Sludge, Widget, and Zane. Luckily, they all have cell phones, so I don't have to search for them. Unfortunately, none of them can read yet, so I'll have to call them. That actually might be good, because if someone asks to see our phones, they won't know what we're doing if they read our text messages.  
I decided to call Sludge and Widget first. I know that they're searching together, so it'll be easier for me that way.  
Third Person's POV:  
Meanwhile, Sludge and Widget were searching for any useful equipment near Dr. Tenma's laboratory. Unfortunately, after looking through the window, they realized that he was in there. So they can't go in there until he leaves.  
"We gotta go in there." Sludge whispered. "There's gotta be something in there."  
"How?" Widget asked. "I doubt he's gonna leave until he shuts down the Ministry."  
At that moment, Widget's cell phone started ringing. She quickly answered it, hoping that no one heard it. Looking at her phone, she realized that Cora was calling her.  
"Hey, Cora." She greeted. "Did you find anything?"  
"No, I didn't." Cora told her. "Listen, we have bigger things to worry about. I noticed a security camera while I was searching. There are probably tons of them throughout the building."  
Widget's eyes widened. She quickly scanned the ceiling, then she found two security cameras on different sides of the hallways.  
"I just saw two, Cora!" Widget said. "What are we gonna do now?"  
"Don't panic!" Cora warned. "Remember, be casual. If you think you're looking suspicious in the presence of a camera, do something quickly to look less suspicious."  
"Like what?" Widget asked.  
"When I saw the camera, I was getting out of a closet." Cora told her. "I quickly said aloud that that wasn't the bathroom, that way if anyone was watching me, they wouldn't get suspicious."  
"Genius!" Widget said. "We'll try to do the same thing."  
"Please do." Cora insisted. "Before you enter a room or a hallway, make sure that you scan it for any security cameras or even security guards. I wouldn't be surprised if the Ministry had them."  
"Got it." Widget said. "'Bye, Cora. Thanks for telling me."  
"No problem." Cora said. "I gotta go. I gotta warn Zane."  
With that, Cora hung up. Widget put her phone into her pocket.  
"What's going on?" Sludge asked.  
Not wanting to take any risks, Widget dragged him to a nearby bathroom. Luckily, the Ministry seemed to be full of them.  
"What's the big idea?!" Sludge demanded. "I can't be in here!"  
"Relax, no one will come in." Widget insisted. "Just in case, we'll talk in the stall."  
Widget led Sludge to one of the stalls, even though Sludge didn't seem happy about it. She quickly locked it.  
"This has better be important." Sludge said.  
"It is." Widget insisted. "Cora found out that the Ministry is full of security cameras! There's even two in the hallway we were just in!"  
Sludge's eyes widened. "Oh no! What are we gonna do?"  
"Cora said that we have to remain casual." Widget said. "If we appear to be doing anything suspicious, we gotta try to make it look normal."  
"How?" Sludge asked.  
"Cora said that after she walked out of a closet, she noticed a security camera." Widget told him. "She said aloud that that wasn't the bathroom. We gotta do something similar."  
"Got it!" Sludge said. "Can we leave now?"  
Widget walked over to the bathroom door. She opened the door and poked her head out of it. She looked around her.  
"All clear." She said, giving Sludge the "come on" gesture.  
Widget left the bathroom, with Sludge coming out right behind her.  
"You better not tell anyone about this!" Sludge warned.  
"Fine." Widget said in annoyance.  
"Thank you." Sludge said, walking behind her now.  
Unknown to him, Widget had a brief smile on her face.  
"For now." She thought.  
Sludge looked around. "Where do we go now?"  
"Let's go back to the laboratory." Widget suggested. "I have an idea how to get in."  
"Fill me in." Sludge said.  
Widget smiled.  
Dr. Tenma's POV:  
I'm almost done. I still have four hours left, but I should be able to shut the Ministry down before then. I better give everyone a warning. I walked over to a hologram projector, then activated it. Instantly, it started to scan me, waiting for me to give a message.  
"Attention!" I said. "This is Dr. Tenma speaking. As a warning, I've almost shut down the Ministry. Everyone is still expected to evacuate immediately. For safety reasons, everyone is expected to meet me outside of the main entrance so I can make sure that everyone has successfully left the building before I permanently shut it down. Thank you."  
Since my message was done, I shut off the projector (probably for the last time). I walked over to my computer to shut off the interior of the Ministry. Well, this is it...  
"Excuse me?" Said a soft voice.  
Turning around, I saw one of Astro's friends standing there.  
"What are you still doing here?" I asked. "Are the others still here, too?"  
"Who?" He asked.  
"Astro's other friends." I replied.  
"Oh." He said. "They're still outside. I just came back in to use the bathroom."  
"Can't you wait?" I asked impatiently. "I'm about to shut down the Ministry of Science."  
"I can't." He insisted. "I really have to go."  
I sighed. "Fine. Just make it quick."  
"Can you take me there?" He asked. "I don't know where it is."  
I sighed again. "Fine."  
With that, I led him to the bathroom. Unfortunately, the nearest men's bathroom is at the other end of the hall. So I hope he's quick...  
Widget's POV:  
Well, that was easy. My brother actually tricked Dr. Tenma into leaving the Ministry of Science! We should get an award for this!  
After Sludge and Dr. Tenma left, I walked over to the laboratory. Hopefully, I'll be able to find something useful! I started to walk into the laboratory, but then I remembered something.  
"Sludge, are you in there?" I asked.  
Hopefully, if anyone is (still) watching on the security camera, they'll buy it...  
Zane's POV:  
(Roughly after Cora and Widget hung up).  
I started to look around for something to use. After about five minutes, I still haven't found anything. I don't even know where I am, so this could be a problem. I was able to go down another hall when my cell phone rang. Looking at it, I realized that Cora was calling.  
"Hello?" I greeted.  
"Zane, have you been caught yet?" She asked.  
"No!" I said kind of offended. "What makes you think that?"  
"I'm just making sure!" She insisted. "I found out that the Ministry has security cameras!"  
My eyes widened, and I briefly looked around. Sure enough, there was a security camera in the room!  
"Great!" I whispered sarcastically. "Now how are we gonna look around without being spotted?"  
"Just remain casual!" Cora insisted. "If you think you're acting suspicious, do something quickly so it looks like you're not."  
"Like what?" I asked. "Play dead?"  
"No, genius!" Cora nearly yelled. "Look, I'll give you an example. After I left a closet, I realized that there was a security camera nearby. I said aloud that it wasn't the bathroom. It might seem weird, but it may work and it sounded believable."  
"Yeah, that could work." I agreed. "Thanks for the warning."  
"Sure." Cora said. "Just make sure that you look out for security cameras or even security guards!"  
"Got it." I said. "See ya, Cora."  
"See ya." She said before hanging up.  
Well, this is gonna be a lot harder than I thought. Hopefully, I'll still be able to find something. Wait, there's a door at the end of the hall. Maybe there's something useful in there.  
I opened the door and went inside. The room looked like it was used for storage.  
"Bingo!" I whispered.  
Instantly, I noticed some kind of gadget hanging on the wall. I walked over to it. Honestly, it was kind of disappointing. Whatever it was, it didn't look like much. I noticed a clipboard hanging beneath it. I lifted it up, then looked at it. The clipboard reads  
MAC (Machinery Artificial Controller)  
If used correctly, it may intercept signals used by other devices.  
I stared at it. "I wish I could read."  
I put the clipboard back. I doubt that thing is useful, anyway.  
I walked over to the other end of the wall. There, I found what looked like a metal syringe. Maybe that could be useful. I quickly took it off the wall, then placed it in my pocket, being careful not to get stabbed by it.  
Dr. Tenma's POV:  
I'm still waiting for that friend of Astro's to finish up in the bathroom. It's been over five minutes already! I don't know if that kid remembers or not, but I still have to shut down the Ministry in order to save Astro and Uran!  
I looked at my watch. "I'll give him another two minutes before I-"  
At that moment, he finally came out of the bathroom!  
"There you are." I said. "We really gotta go. C'mon. Before I take you out of here, I have to repeat my previous announcement."  
I started to head back to the ministry. He followed me.  
"By the way." I said. "What is your name?"  
"I'm Sludge." He replied.  
"Okay, Sludge." I said. "Let's go! We can't waste any more time."  
"I agree." He said.  
I don't know why, but I felt uncomfortable when he said that...  
"Bill?" Said a voice.  
Turning around, I saw Orrin.  
"Orrin!" I said in astonishment. "What are you still doing here?"  
"I'm waiting for Astro's friends." He replied. "They all went to the bathroom."  
I turned to Sludge suspiciously. "I thought you said they were all waiting outside."  
"I thought they were." He replied. "We all went to the bathroom. Maybe they are now."  
I just looked at him. Orrin went over to him.  
"Well, here's your chips." He said, handing Sludge a small chip bag.  
"Thanks." He said and started munching on the chips.  
I sighed. "I sure hope everyone is okay."  
"Don't worry." Said a voice. "We are."  
Turning towards the voice, I saw the rest of Astro's friends approaching.  
I sighed. "Do any of you know how dangerous it can be to wander around a laboratory like this unsupervised?"  
"Nothing happened." The tallest girl insisted. "We're fine."  
"Now you are." I said. "Next time, you may not be so lucky. There have been enough casualties here! I won't allow there to be anymore!"  
I noticed that everyone looked tensed when I said that, so I calmed myself down.  
"Nevermind." I said. "I gotta make sure that everyone has abandoned the Ministry before I completely shut it off. Orrin, can you get them out of the building?"  
"On it, Bill." Orrin replied.  
"And this time, make sure that they leave!" I said sternly.  
Orrin nodded. With that, I headed back to the lab. I gotta shut down the Ministry before I lose Astro and Uran forever!  
Third Person POV:  
After Orrin led Cora, Sludge, Widget, and Zane out of the Ministry of Science, he stood near the door to make sure that they don't try to sneak back in.  
"Did you guys find anything?" Cora asked.  
"I found a syringe-like thing." Zane told her.  
"I found what looks like some kind of tool." Widget said.  
"I found what looks like a robotic helmet." Cora said.  
"I took a pen-like thing off Dr. Tenma's desk when he wasn't looking." Sludge said.  
"Great!" Cora said. "After the Ministry shuts down, meet me on the Surface where we originally met Astro. We'll see if these things can be put to good use."  
"On it." Zane said.  
I smiled. Hopefully, we'll be able to free Astro and Uran before Hamegg does anything to them.  
AN 1: well, that's chapter 15. Tell me what you think! Don't hesitate to write a review!


	16. Change of Plans

Hamegg's POV:  
Well, this is going well! Not only have I captured Astro and Uran, but I've also blackmailed Tenma into shutting down the Ministry of Science! Haha! He's gonna lose his job and suffer from humiliation! Oh, how karma can catch up to you!  
Well, speaking of Astro and Uran, I should probably check up on them and make sure they're not up to anything. Not wasting any time, I walked over to the monitors that I've placed throughout my house. As expected, Astro and Uran were still tied up. Uran looked bored out of her mind and Astro looked concerned. Concerned over what exactly, I don't know.  
I glanced at the clock. Tenma only has three hours left before I fry Astro and Uran's circuits permanently. Well, I better feed them. It's roughly lunchtime, anyway. What would they eat? Do they even have to eat? They are just robots after all. However, since Astro did save my life, I probably should feed him. Wait, now that I think of it, I don't really remember seeing Astro eat anything when he lived with us on the Surface. I should have known he wasn't human from the start! It's pretty obvious now.  
Nevermind, I probably should feed them. Unfortunately, I don't know what they can eat. I guess I'll just ask them.  
Astro's POV:  
Uran and I are still tied up to the pillars. Uran is bored, I can tell, but I'm more concerned with what Hamegg plans to do to us. I did trust him at one point, but I don't anymore. Especially since he nearly got me killed in the Robot Games. However, I did save his life, so maybe that will encourage him to spare us. I sighed. I guess as long as Uran will be okay, I really don't care what he does to me...  
Hearing the door open, I looked up. Hamegg came into the room and started walking down the stairs.  
"What do you want now?" Uran demanded.  
"Uran, don't make him mad." I warned.  
"Relax, you two." Hamegg said. "I just want came to ask you two what you wanted to eat."  
I raised an eyebrow. "You're gonna feed us?"  
"I was planning to." Hamegg replied.  
"Why are you gonna feed us?" I asked. "You might just shut us down, anyway."  
Hamegg frowned. "Do you wanna eat, or not?"  
"Yes." I replied.  
"Okay." Hamegg said. "What would you like? Sandwiches? Hot dogs? Oil?"  
"Very funny." I said. "We can eat, Hamegg."  
"I wasn't sure." Hamegg said. "What would you like?"  
"I want a hot dog." Uran replied.  
"So do I." I said. "How are we gonna eat them? We're tied up."  
"I'll feed them to you." Hamegg said.  
"What?" I said.  
"You heard me." Hamegg replied. "I'm not foolish enough to release either of you. So I'm just gonna feed you both myself, quite literally."  
"You gotta be kidding me." I muttered to myself.  
Cora's POV:  
Well, Dr. Tenma finally did it! He just shut down the Ministry. Forever, from the looks of it. Currently, he's heading home to somehow contact Hamegg. As for me, I'm waiting for Sludge, Widget, and Zane on the Surface. I hope they get here soon. We can't waste any more time! There are only about two and a half hours left before Hamegg destroys Astro and Uran! After that, we're screwed!  
After another five minutes, Zane, Widget, and Sludge finally showed up. They brought the equipment that they took from the Ministry with them.  
"Finally!" I said. "What took so long?"  
"You try staying out of the house so long without your parents knowing." Zane said. "I had to tell my parents that I was heading over to your house to finish a project for school."  
"But we're on spring break." Widget said. "We don't have homework."  
"You don't, but we do." I told her.  
"That sucks." Sludge said.  
"Yeah." I said. "Can we just work on trying to free Astro and Uran now?"  
"Yeah, that's why we're here, isn't it?" Zane asked.  
I sighed. "Yeah, it is."  
"So, what's the plan?" Widget asked.  
"We're gonna try to free Astro and Uran." I reminded her. "But first, we're gonna see if the equipment we took from the Ministry can help us."  
"How are we gonna do that?" Zane asked.  
"By testing them out." Cora replied. "Duh."  
"Don't be snarky." Zane said. "Exactly how are we gonna test these things out? They could be very dangerous."  
"That's why we're gonna test them out one at a time." Cora said. "Hopefully, we won't kill ourselves in the process."  
"Sounds fun." Sludge said sarcastically.  
Third Person POV:  
Later (roughly two hours before Hamegg fries Astro and Uran's circuits), Cora, Sludge, Widget, and Zane found the perfect place to test out the equipment that they stole. They decided to do it near the pile of broken robots. That way, they have a safe place to hide in case anything goes wrong.  
"All right, guys." Cora said. "Let's test these out."  
"Which one should we use first?" Widget asked.  
"How about the robotic helmet I found?" Cora suggested.  
"Who should try it out?" Zane asked.  
Everyone remained silent for a moment.  
"Not it." Cora said.  
"Not it." Zane said.  
"Not it." Widget said.  
"You're the lucky guy, Sludge." Cora said.  
"What?" Sludge cried. "I don't wanna try that thing out. What if it kills me?"  
"I doubt it'll kill you." Cora told him. "It looks like it was meant to be used by a human. So I don't think it's really dangerous."  
"Fine." Sludge said.  
Sludge took the helmet and put it on. He remained silent for a moment.  
"What does it do?" Cora asked.  
"Nothing." Sludge replied.  
"What?" Zane said.  
"Nothing." Sludge repeated.  
"What do you mean 'nothing?'" Widget asked.  
"All I see is darkness." Sludge said. "It's like a blindfold!"  
Cora glanced at the side of the helmet. "I don't think it's turned on. Here."  
Cora reached her hand until she touched a small button on the side of the helmet with her finger. She pressed it.  
"Woah." Sludge said.  
"What does it do?" Zane asked.  
"It allows me to look into your pockets." Sludge said.  
Zane stared at him. "That's it?"  
"Wait, there's a knob on the other side of the helmet." Widget said, pointing.  
Cora turned the knob.  
Sludge screamed. "I can see everyone's skeletons! Change it! Change it! Change it!"  
Cora turned the knob again.  
"I can now see through everyone." Sludge said. "It's like you're all invisible-"  
Sludge looked passed Cora, Zane, and Widget.  
"Hey, ZOG." He said.  
ZOG came out of his hiding place and walked over to them. He nodded.  
"ZOG, Astro and Uran have been kidnapped by Hamegg!" Cora told him.  
"I know." ZOG said.  
"You know?" Widget said. "How did-"  
"It was you, wasn't it?" Cora interrupted. "You were the one who sent the rocks to Metro City!"  
ZOG nodded again.  
"How did you find out?" Zane asked.  
"I saw it happen." ZOG replied.  
"Oh." Cora said. "We're trying to see if any of these things can help us free Astro and Uran. We stole them from the Ministry of Science. Don't tell anyone!"  
ZOG nodded again.  
"Well, the helmet was a total bust." Zane said. "Let's try the syringe-like thing that I found."  
Cora nodded. Zane took it out and looked at it. So did the others, even ZOG.  
"What does it do?" Sludge asked, clearly terrified by syringes.  
"I don't know." Zane said.  
"I think for syringes, you're supposed to push on the top to make the substance come out of it." Cora said.  
"I'll try it." Zane said.  
Zane pressed down on the top of the syringe. A black liquid-like substance came out of it.  
"What is this stuff?" Widget asked. "Ink from a pen?"  
"I don't think this is a pen." Cora said.  
"Let me see." ZOG said.  
Zane placed the syringe in ZOG's hand. ZOG brought it up to his face.  
"Can one of you press down on it?" ZOG asked.  
Zane nodded. He climbed in ZOG's hand. Zog lifted him up. When Zane was close to ZOG's face, he pressed down on it.  
"It's just oil." ZOG told them, carefully placing Zane down.  
"Are you sure?" Cora asked.  
"Positive." ZOG replied. "It's probably used to apply oil to hard-to-reach places."  
Zane sighed. "Well, that's useless, too."  
"Let's try the tool thing that I found." Widget suggested.  
Cora nodded. Widget grabbed the tool-like thing and just stared at it. She noticed multiple parts on the tool that looked like they could be pulled out. She did just that. Instantly, a screwdriver appeared from inside of the tool. She pulled on another one. This time, a wrench came out of it.  
Cora sighed. "It's just a multi-tool."  
"Oh, c'mon!" Zane said.  
"Let's try this pen-like thing that I found." Sludge suggested.  
Sludge took out the pen-like thing. He quickly examined it, then pressed a button on the top of it. Instantly, the tip of the pen came out. He pressed the button again, and the tip of the pen went back inside.  
"It's just a pen, Sludge." Cora told him annoyed.  
"Oh." Sludge said, clearly embarrassed. "I thought it was just disguised as a pen."  
"Well, it certainly fooled you." Widget teased.  
"Shut up, Widget." Sludge said.  
"I can't believe after all that, none of us found anything useful." Cora said.  
"Calm down, Cora." Zane said. "Maybe we can still free Astro and Uran."  
"How?" Cora asked. "In case you haven't noticed, we don't know how to free Astro and Uran."  
"Well, we could just hit Hamegg upside the head with this tool." Widget suggested.  
"And how are we gonna do that?" Cora asked. "Sneak into the orphanage, walk up to him, tap him on the shoulder, then hit him upside the head when he turns around?"  
"Actually, we could do that." Zane said, taking a key out of his pocket. "Before we left Hamegg's orphanage, I stole one of his spare keys."  
Cora just stared at it. "Uh, yeah, I guess we could just do that."  
"I'll wait outside Hamegg's hideout, just in case he tries to escape." ZOG offered.  
"This could work." Sludge said.  
"Too bad we just didn't think this through before." Widget said.  
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Zane asked. "Let's go free Astro and Uran!"  
Not wanting to waste any more time, they all started to head to Hamegg's hideout. ZOG was walking slower than the others, mainly so Hamegg wouldn't hear him.  
"This sounds way to easy." Cora thought to herself.  
Dr. Tenma's POV:  
(Roughly half an hour ago).  
Well, I finally did it. It wasn't easy, but it's finally done. I've just shut down the Ministry of Science, probably forever, but it's worth it if it means I can save Astro and Uran. I've just arrived home, and I'm wondering how I'm supposed to contact Hamegg. He never really told me how. Unfortunately, that's a major problem. I have only about two and a half hours until Hamegg's offer expires. I hate to image what he'll do to Astro and Uran if I don't contact him!  
"Hello, Bill." Orrin greeted cheerfully.  
"Hi." I said rather gloomy.  
"Just so you know, while you were gone, the phone rang." Orrin said.  
"Who called?" I asked.  
"I don't know." Orrin replied. "There was no caller ID, and I didn't recognize the number. So, I just didn't answer."  
I nodded, then walked over to the phone. I hit the "messages" button, then listened to the newest message.  
"Hello, Tenma." Hamegg's voice said. "As you know, you only have three hours left to shut down the Ministry of Science (or less, depending on when you receive this message). Listen carefully to my instructions. I've sent you an email explaining how to contact me. Don't even bother trying to locate me with it. I've paid someone in Metro City to send you an email on my behalf. He doesn't know who I am, or where I am. The email is in code, which you should be able to translate. Remember our deal, you can't tell the police or anyone else about this, or I'll fry Astro and Uran's circuitry regardless. I'd hurry up if I were you, the clock's ticking."  
The call ended. I sighed, then walked over to my computer. I noticed that an email was sent to me. I clicked on it. Sure enough, it was encoded. It must be the one Hamegg was talking about. He was right, I was able to translate it pretty quickly. I'm grateful for that! Not wasting any more time, I quickly dialed the number that the email gave me. Instantly, a hologram of Hamegg appeared.  
"Well, Tenma." Hamegg said. "I've been expecting you."  
I sighed. "Okay, Hamegg. I did as you said. I've shut down the Ministry. Now release Astro and Uran."  
Hamegg didn't say anything. Instead, he looked away and grabbed a TV remote.  
"In a shocking turn of events, it appears that the Ministry of Science was shut down today." Someone, probably a newscaster, said. "The reason is currently unknown."  
Hamegg shut off the TV.  
"So you did, Tenma." He said. "However, I'm not ready to release them just yet."  
"What?! But we had a deal!" I yelled.  
"Deals are meant to be broken." Hamegg said calmly. "You should know that."  
I calmed down. "What do you want now?"  
"Do you have a fireplace?" Hamegg asked.  
"Yeah, why?" I said, not quite sure where this was going.  
Hamegg smiled diabolically. "Let's just say your past is about to go up in smoke."  
"Huh?" I said. "Oh. Now I get it. You gotta be kidding me."  
"Take off your lab coat." Hamegg ordered. "Let's see how upset you get knowing that your work at the Ministry of Science has come to an end."  
AN 1: Well, that's Chapter 16. Tell me what you think.


	17. Putting the Plan Into Action

Cora's POV:  
Widget, Sludge, Zane, ZOG and I are still walking to Hamegg's hideout. I don't know why, but I can't help but feel like our so-called "plan" isn't gonna work. I don't know if it's because it's just improvised or it just sounds way too easy.  
"Guys, maybe we should think this through a little better." I suggested.  
"How?" Zane asked.  
"I don't know." I said. "Maybe we could actually think this through."  
"We did that before, and look where it got us." Sludge said.  
"Nowhere." Widget said.  
"Yeah, but still." I said. "We've got no real plan. C'mon! Just walk up to Hamegg and hit him on the head? Do you guys think that's really gonna work? This isn't a cartoon! And if it does work, we may accidentally kill him."  
Everyone else instantly looked at each other.  
"I haven't thought of that." Zane admitted.  
"None of us did." Widget said.  
"Our best bet is to free Astro and Uran." I said.  
"How are we gonna do that?" Zane asked. "Beg Hamegg to?"  
I scoffed. "Look who's being snarky now!"  
"I'm serious." Zane said. "What? You got a better idea?"  
I quickly thought it over. "I think I do. Hamegg tied Astro and Uran to a metallic pillar, right?"  
"Yeah." Widget said.  
"He's threatening to zap them with an electric wire, right?" I said.  
"Yeah." Sludge said. "What's your point?"  
"Remember, if Hamegg is controlling the wires with a remote control, the remote must be powered by electricity." I said.  
Zane's eyes widened. "If there's no electricity, then the remote will no longer work."  
"Bingo!" I said.  
"Okay." Sludge said. "How are we gonna do that?"  
"We have to shut off Hamegg's power." I said.  
"And how are we gonna do that?" Widget asked.  
I frowned. "I haven't thought of that."  
I turned to ZOG. "ZOG, do you know anything about shutting off electricity?"  
ZOG shook his head.  
"Okay, then." I said. "Does anyone else have any ideas?"  
"We could talk to Dr. Tenma." Widget suggested. "He probably would know."  
"I don't think he'll be very willing to help." I said.  
"Yeah, he's probably too busy dealing with Hamegg, anyway." Zane said.  
"Maybe we should just wait for Hamegg to free Astro and Uran." Sludge said. "He did promise to."  
"I really don't believe him." I said. "He's probably lying."  
Zane sighed. "Yeah, probably. So now what?"  
"We could talk to Orrin." Sludge suggested. "He might know how to cut off Hamegg's power."  
"It can't hurt." Zane said. "What if he tells Dr. Tenma what we're up to?"  
"I don't think he will." I said. "He probably wants to free Astro and Uran as much as we do."  
"Good point." Zane said.  
"Well, back to Metro City!" I said.  
"I'll stay here." ZOG said.  
"Like you have much of a choice." I said.  
ZOG shrugged.  
"C'mon guys." I said. "Let's go."  
Tenma's POV.  
I can't believe this! Not only has Hamegg double-crossed me, but he's also forcing me to burn my lab coat in the fireplace! How long is this gonna go on? I just want my son and daughter back! Is that too much to ask?!  
"Hang on a minute, Tenma." Hamegg said suddenly. "See that picture of Astro over there?"  
"Actually, Hamegg, that's not Astro." I told him. "That's Toby."  
"Toby?" Hamegg said. "Who's Toby?"  
"My son." I replied. "Or at least he used to be."  
"What are you talking about?" Hamegg asked.  
I sighed. "Toby was my son. He died in a lab accident. I built Astro in a failed attempt to bring him back."  
Hamegg's eyes widened. "That's why you created Astro?"  
"Yes." I replied with tears in my eyes.  
"Well, that explains a lot about Astro." Hamegg said. He turned to me and smiled. "Well, Tenma. In that case, bring me a picture of Astro, then. If you have one. And one of Uran, too."  
I went into Astro's and Uran's rooms and came back with a picture of each of them.  
"Place the pictures of them on the coffee table." Hamegg said.  
I raised an eyebrow but did as he said.  
"Make them face you." Hamegg said.  
I sighed, then did as he said (again).  
"Good." Hamegg said. "As you burn your lab coat in the fireplace, look at the pictures of your sons and your daughter and look them in the eye."  
My eyes widened. "You want me to do what?!"  
"You heard me." Hamegg said.  
"Honestly, how cruel are you?" I asked. "That is just low! Even for you!"  
"I could really care less." Hamegg said. "Are you gonna do it or what, or do you want me to destroy Astro and Uran's circuitry?"  
I sighed. "Fine, Hamegg. I'll do it."  
"Good man." Hamegg said.  
I sighed again, then walked over to the fireplace. This is just low! Hamegg wants me to look like a failure in front of my sons and my daughter! I know that they're just pictures of them, but still! I wish he won't make me look at the picture of Toby in the eye. It'll just make me emotional. No! I can't worry about that now! I have to save Astro and Uran first! I know I've said it before, but I won't lose another child! I just won't!  
Looking at the pictures in the eye, I placed my lab coat in the fireplace. Instantly, the lab coat started to burn. I knew it did, even though I still didn't turn around.  
"I'm sorry that it came to this." I thought, still looking at the pictures of Astro, Toby, and Uran. "I won't fail you. Any of you!"  
Hamegg chuckled. I turned to him.  
"Well, Tenma." Hamegg said. "It's nice that you can follow directions."  
I glared at him.  
"Will you free Astro and Uran now?" I asked.  
Hamegg thought it over. "Not quite yet, Tenma."  
I sighed. "What do you want now? Is this how it's gonna go on forever?"  
"If you keep complaining it just might." Hamegg warned.  
Instantly, I shut up.  
"What do you want me to do now?" I asked.  
"I haven't decided yet." Hamegg replied. "I'll make a decision later. Good-bye."  
With that, Hamegg hung up. His hologram vanished. I sighed, then sat on the couch. I placed my hands on my face. I'm never gonna get Astro and Uran back! Hamegg's just gonna keep forcing me to do things for him, but he'll never actually free them. I should have known better than to trust him! I keep forgetting that his dishonestly led me to fire him. Am I just stupid?  
At that moment, the doorbell rang. I really don't wanna see anyone right now.  
"Orrin?" I called. "Can you get that?"  
"Yes, Bill." Orrin replied, rolling over to the door.  
"If it's for me, tell them I'm not in the mood to talk right now." I added.  
"On it." Orrin replied.  
Third Person POV:  
Orrin opened the door. Standing there were Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge.  
"Oh, hello!" Orrin greeted. "Are you here to see Dr. Tenma?"  
"Actually, we're here to see you." Cora told him.  
Orrin's eyes widened. "Really? That's a first."  
"Can we talk in private?" Zane asked.  
"Uh, sure." Orrin replied. "Where do you have in mind?"  
"The hallway, I guess." Zane said.  
Orrin turned to Dr. Tenma. "I'll be right back."  
"All right, Orrin." Dr. Tenma said, his voice slightly muffled by his hands.  
Orrin closed the door.  
"What did you want to talk about?" Orrin asked.  
"It's about Astro and Uran." Widget told him.  
Orrin sighed. "Can this be quick? As concerned as I am for Astro and Uran, I just don't feel comfortable leaving Dr. Tenma alone right now. I'm afraid he'll crack up at any time."  
"We'll try." Cora said. "We think we know a way to free Astro and Uran."  
"How?" Orrin asked.  
"If we cut off Hamegg's power, he won't be able to threaten Astro and Uran anymore." Cora replied.  
"Isn't his remote powered by batteries?" Orrin asked.  
The others looked at each other.  
"Are they?" Sludge asked.  
"Probably." Widget said.  
"But he only has rechargeable batteries, remember?" Cora said.  
"Oh, yeah." Zane said.  
They turned back to Orrin.  
"That won't matter." Cora told him.  
Orrin thought it over. "I'll suggest it to Dr. Tenma."  
"I wouldn't." Zane said.  
"Why not?" Orrin asked.  
"He may not approve of it." Cora replied.  
Orrin thought it over. "Maybe, but he should still know. Your plan just might work."  
"Please don't." Cora begged.  
Orrin sighed. "Fine, I won't. Why did you tell me your plan, anyway?"  
"Because we thought you might know how to shut off electricity." Widget replied.  
"Unfortunately, I don't." Orrin said. "That's something you should ask Dr. Tenma. As a roboticist, he would know more than I would."  
"C'mon, Orrin!" Zane said.  
"I'm just saying." Orrin said. "Anyway, if you guys want, I can try to contact electrician robots. They might be able to help us."  
"That could work." Cora said.  
"I'll give them a call." Orrin said.  
"Make sure Dr. Tenma doesn't know what you're doing." Cora warned.  
"Don't worry." Orrin told her. "Robots in Metro City developed their own language that humans can't understand. They can get it translated, but they can't actually speak it."  
"Why did they develop their own language?" Widget asked.  
"So we can communicate privately to each other." Orrin replied. "That way, humans won't know what we're saying. Sometimes, we just gossip and complain about them."  
"Do Astro and Uran know the language?" Cora asked.  
"They should." Orrin said. "All robots in Metro City seem to."  
"C'mon, guys." Cora said. "We can't waste any more time!"  
"I know." Orrin said. "I'll try to contact the electricians. Hopefully, they aren't too busy."  
"What are we gonna do?" Zane asked.  
"I guess we'll just wait on the Surface for them." Cora said.  
"What if we need to contact Orrin about something?" Zane asked.  
"Don't worry about that." Orrin replied. "Dr. Tenma created me with a built-in phone. It's attached to my auditory system. I'll write down my number for you. It's entirely private, so we don't have to worry too much about anyone listening in. I just need your numbers as well."  
"Great!" Cora said. "This may actually work this time!"  
"I hope so." Orrin replied. "I'll go contact the electricians. I'll call you guys later and tell you what they say."  
"Are you gonna come with us to the Surface?" Widget asked.  
"Actually, I'm gonna stay here with Dr. Tenma." Orrin replied. "I don't think he should be left alone right now."  
"All right, then." Cora said. "Thanks for everything, Orrin."  
"No problem." Orrin said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to free Astro and Uran. It's obvious that Hamegg's not gonna do it."  
"What do you mean?" Widget asked.  
"Hamegg lied to Dr. Tenma." Orrin replied. "Even though Dr. Tenma shut down the Ministry, he's still making him do tasks for him. I don't think he's gonna free Astro and Uran anytime soon."  
"It looks like you were right, Cora." Zane said sadly.  
"Unfortunately." Cora said.  
"Let's just go." Widget said. "The sooner we free Astro and Uran, the better."  
"Let's go, guys." Cora said. "Good luck with the electricians, Orrin."  
Orrin nodded. "Good-bye, guys."  
AN 1: I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 17. Tell me what you think. Sorry, I would have updated last night, but I had computer issues (again).


	18. Complications

Hamegg's POV:  
Ha! Whoever invented revenge is my hero! I never thought I would have this much fun blackmailing Dr. Tenma! Astro may have ruined my life on the Surface, but he's made my life a lot better now! Who knew that that little robot would have been my key to getting revenge on Dr. Tenma? Oh, I could get used to this!  
Speaking of Astro, I better make sure that Astro and Uran are all right. I may be threatening them, but if anything happens to them, Dr. Tenma will stop giving in to my demands. I walked to the basement, which was where Astro and Uran were. They both looked up when I came in.  
"Can you free us now?" Uran asked.  
"Not quite yet." I replied.  
"When?" She asked.  
"When I'm ready to." I warned impatiently.  
"Uran, don't make him mad." Astro told her. "When someone is threatening you, the best thing you can do is not make them mad."  
"Smart robot." I said. "Then again, you always were."  
"Hamegg, let's make a deal." Astro suddenly said, ignoring my comment.  
I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of deal?"  
"I'll compromise if you free Uran." Astro replied.  
"Compromise?" I said. "How so?"  
"What exactly do you want?" Astro asked.  
"Hm." I said, thinking it over. "You know what? I'll think about it."  
"Thank you." Astro said.  
I smiled, then left. Well, I wasn't expecting that! Astro is willing to do something for me if I free his robotic sister! The question is how far is he willing to go?  
Third Person POV:  
Meanwhile, outside of Hamegg's lair, Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge were waiting for the electrician robots (or at least for Orrin's call).  
"What's taking Orrin so long?" Zane asked impatiently.  
"Maybe the electricians are busy." Cora suggested.  
"Or Orrin is." Sludge said.  
"But this is important!" Widget insisted.  
"I know it is." Cora said. "So does Orrin."  
They waited a little longer. None of them spoke. Eventually, Sludge decided to break the silence.  
"It's kind of weird being back at Hamegg's, huh?" Sludge said.  
"Yeah, kinda." Zane said.  
Suddenly, Cora's cell phone started to ring (rather loudly). Quickly, she answered it.  
"I should probably lower the volume." Cora said. She answered the phone. "Hello?"  
"Hi, Cora." A voice said. "It's Orrin."  
"Orrin!" Cora said. "So, what happened?"  
"The electrician robots agreed to help!" Orrin said.  
"Great!" Cora said into the phone.  
"But-" Orrin started to say.  
Cora frowned. "But what?"  
"They don't know where you are on the Surface." Orrin said. "You're gonna have to provide me with some directions."  
I sighed. "Okay. Uh, tell them to go towards the direction of the rocks that were found on Metro City."  
"The ones that were on the news?" Orrin asked.  
"Yeah." Cora replied. "After that, fly straight down from Metro City. Just go straight and you'll you a big building. It should have a sign on it that says 'Hamegg's.'"  
"Got it." Orrin said. "Anything else I should know?"  
"That should do it." I said.  
"I'll tell them." Orrin said. "Hopefully they'll be there soon. It should take five minutes at most."  
"Sounds good." Cora said. "Thanks, Orrin."  
"Don't mention it." Orrin replied. "I better go. I can't leave Dr. Tenma alone for long. I'm afraid he's gonna crack up."  
With that, Orrin hung up. So did Cora. She placed her cell phone back in her pocket (after she lowered the volume on it first).  
"Orrin said that the electrician robots should come in about five minutes." Cora told them.  
"That's good." Widget said.  
Roughly five minutes later, the robot electricians came by in a light blue and white van with the words "Robo's Electricians" on it. Two robots came out of the van. They were both old-fashioned looking. They had box-shaped bodies, bucket-like heads, rectangular arms and legs, and human-like arms and feet. They were both blue in color, except for their bodies. Their bodies were painted on so it looked like they were wearing brown overalls.  
"Are you the humans that Orrin was talking about?" One of them asked.  
"Yeah, we are." Zane said.  
"So this is where Astro and Uran are being kept?" The other one asked.  
"Yeah." Sludge said.  
The first one nodded. "Don't worry. We'll shut off the power in no time."  
"Thank you." Cora said. "Uh, do you guys have names?"  
"I'm Elect." The first one said.  
"I'm Rick." The second one said.  
"Elect and Rick." Cora said. "Oh. I get it! Like the word 'electric.'"  
"Yeah." Elect said. "Actually, that's just a coincidence."  
"Really?" Widget asked.  
"Yeah, it is." Elect said.  
"At least, we think it is." Rick added.  
"That's not important." Sludge said. "We gotta save Astro and Uran!"  
Rick nodded. "I agree. Let's get to work!"  
"Thank you!" Cora said.  
"Unfortunately, you guys are gonna have to help us out." Elect said.  
Cora frowned. "Why?"  
"Remember, we were created in Metro City." Rick said. "We're not too familiar with the Surface. Their technology is most likely less advanced that the power sources in Metro City are. So we will need information before we can get to work."  
"What do you need to know?" Zane asked.  
"Do you know where the Surface's source of power comes from?" Elect asked.  
"I think Hamegg told us that they come from power lines." Zane said.  
Elect and Rick both looked up and looked at the power lines.  
"Do you mean the wires that connect the building to the wooden poles?" Rick asked.  
"Yeah." Cora said. "They're called telephone poles."  
"Okay." Elect said. "This may take a little while. We'll scan the telephone poles, and try to figure out how they work. Hopefully, we'll just cut off the power to Hamegg's lair and not the entire Surface."  
"We'd appreciate that." Cora said.  
"How long do you think this will take?" Zane asked.  
Elect and Rick quickly thought it over.  
"We don't know." Elect admitted. "Probably somewhere between a minute and a couple of hours. We don't exactly know."  
"It could take a couple of hours?!" Sludge asked.  
"Unfortunately, it could." Rick said. "Electricity is a serious matter. We can't just play around with it. If something goes wrong, it could lead to a fire, and I have a feeling that the telephone poles are no exception."  
Zane sighed. "Fine. Just do your thing!"  
"Thank you." Elect said.  
"We'll try to do this as quickly as possible." Rick said.  
Instantly, the two started getting to work. They started to scan the telephone poles, trying to figure out how they work.  
Cora sighed.  
"I hope they hurry up." She said to the others. "There's no telling what Hamegg is doing to Astro and Uran right now!"  
Hamegg's POV:  
I can't believe it! Astro just gave me the deal of a lifetime. He'll do anything for me if I agree to free Uran! Knowing Astro, he'll probably go through with it. The question is, what should I make Astro do? I gotta think carefully on this one.  
Astro's POV:  
"I can't believe that you're doing this." Uran said. "And after what I did to you."  
"You're my sister." I said. "This is what I'm supposed to do."  
"I don't know what to say." Uran said.  
"Then don't say anything." I said. "I just want you safe."  
"And I want you safe." Uran said softly.  
"Don't worry about me." I said. "Just worry about yourself."  
"But I've already had." Uran said. "It's time I start thinking about other people, too."  
"Worry about that later." I said. "Right now, focus on getting out of here. If I do make a deal with Hamegg, promise me that after he frees you, you'll immediately get out of here."  
"I will." Uran said. "But I'm coming back for you."  
"Uran, don't even come back." I said. "I'm gonna stick to the deal, even if it costs me my life."  
Uran looked like she was about to cry.  
"Please don't." She begged.  
"Don't worry about me." I told her. "I'll be fine."  
With that, I held her hand. She looked up at me, with a sad look on her face. She started to squeeze my hand back.  
AN 1: well, that's Chapter 18. Tell me what you think.


	19. Deceit

Dr. Tenma's POV:  
It's weird. I haven't heard from Hamegg for a few hours now. Why hasn't he called again? Surely, he's gotta have more things for me to do, right? Something's gotta be up...  
"Are you alright, Bill?" Orrin asked, placing a large coffee on the coffee table.  
"Not really." I replied.  
"I know you're worried about Astro and Uran, but they'll be fine." Orrin insisted. "It'll all work out. Hamegg can't hold them captive forever."  
"I know that." I told him. "I'm not worried that I'll never get Astro and Uran back. I'm more concerned with why Hamegg hasn't called to give me more orders."  
I could tell that Orrin was thinking.  
"Maybe he's taking a nap." Orrin suggested.  
"Maybe." I said. "I guess he could be. However, I'm not too convinced."  
"You think something else is going on?" Orrin asked.  
"I don't know." I replied. "I have no idea what Hamegg's doing right now. What if- what if he's destroying Astro and Uran right now?!"  
"Bill, calm down." Orrin said, placing one of his metallic hands on my arm. "I don't think Hamegg's done anything to them yet."  
I took a breath. "Your right, Orrin. I'm probably just getting paranoid."  
"I understand." Orrin said.  
"Still, I have no idea what Hamegg's up to." I said.  
"I know that this may not be the best time, but what did you do that made Hamegg want to get revenge on you?" Orrin asked.  
I sighed. "Oh. He used to work with me at the Ministry of Science. Until I fired him, that is."  
"Oh." Orrin said. "Any particular reason?"  
"Yes!" I replied. "Because he's greedy, sadistic, and practically a psychopath!"  
Orrin's eyes widened. "Well, now I really am worried about Astro and Uran!"  
"So am I!" I said. "Unfortunately, Hamegg is a genius. He probably thought this through."  
"Do you have any idea what he's gonna do?" Orrin asked.  
"I don't know." I said. "There's no telling what will happen."  
Third Person POV:  
Meanwhile, Cora, Widget, Sludge, and Zane were still waiting for the electrician robots to finish up.  
"Are you guys almost done?" Cora asked impatiently.  
"Not yet." Elect replied. "Soon."  
"How long?" She asked.  
"Hopefully, ten minutes at most." Rick said.  
"Thanks." Zane said.  
"What exactly are we gonna do after they shut off the power?" Widget asked.  
"We're gonna free Astro and Uran." Cora replied.  
"How?" Widget asked. "What's the plan?"  
"We're gonna-" Cora started to say. "Uh, we're gonna..."  
Cora exchanged a look with Zane. "What are we gonna do?"  
"We could just hit Hamegg upside the head." Sludge suggested. "Just not that hard."  
"Oh, yeah, like that's gonna work." Cora said sarcastically. "Sludge, this isn't a cartoon. That's not gonna work."  
"So what are we gonna do?" Widget asked.  
"We could try to trick Hamegg into leaving his lair." Zane suggested. "Then, sneak in and lock the door."  
"How are we gonna do that?" Cora asked.  
"I don't know." Zane replied. "I guess we could tell Hamegg that Sludge and/or Widget are missing and ask him to help us find them."  
"We could." Widget said.  
"Will he actually help us?" Cora asked. "I don't think he'll be willing to do us any favors."  
"You got a better idea?" Zane asked kind of snarky.  
"Do you?" Cora replied in the same tone of voice.  
"Guys, calm down." Sludge said.  
"This isn't helping." Widget added.  
"They're right." Cora said. "So does anyone have a better idea?"  
No one said anything.  
"I guess not." Cora concluded.  
"So what exactly are we gonna do?" Zane asked.  
Cora thought it over.  
"How's this: I'm gonna ask Hamegg to help me find Sludge." Cora suggested. "Zane and Widget, when Hamegg and I are out of sight, sneak into his lair, and make sure his door is locked."  
"On it." Zane said.  
"What about me?" Sludge asked.  
"Hide somewhere where we'll never find you." Cora told him. "Just tell me first where you're gonna hide so I know where to find you. I'll come back for you later after we rescue Astro and Uran."  
"What about me?" Said a voice.  
Everyone (including Rick and Elect) turned around and came face-to-face with ZOG.  
"Uh, for now, just hide." Cora suggested. "Hamegg might get suspicious if he sees you."  
ZOG nodded.  
"If we need help, we'll call you." Cora added.  
ZOG nodded again.  
"Hopefully, this will work." Zane said.  
"We're almost done!" Rick announced. "Should be just a couple more minutes."  
Cora smiled. "Let's do this!"  
Astro's POV:  
The door suddenly opened. Uran and I both looked up. Standing there was Hamegg (no surprise there), who smiled in our direction.  
"Well, Astro." Hamegg said. "I've decided to take you up on your offer."  
I smiled. "So you're gonna free Uran?"  
"Maybe." Hamegg replied. "If you agree to my deal."  
I frowned. "What do you want?"  
"I'll free Uran, but first you gotta agree to be my personal robot." Hamegg replied.  
I raised an eyebrow. "Meaning what?"  
"You're gonna do what I say when I say it." Hamegg replied.  
"You want me to be a serving robot?" I asked.  
"Mmm, kind of." Hamegg said. "Except you're gonna have to do a lot more for me."  
I sighed. "Fine, Hamegg. I'll do it. Just free Uran first."  
"I suppose so." Hamegg said. "That seems fair. Just so you know, as soon as I free Uran, you have to do whatever I say from now on."  
"I know." I said.  
Hamegg smiled. "Very well, Astro. I'm glad you saw things my way."  
I sent him a brief glare. Hamegg ignored it and reached for the wire that he used to tie Uran up. Before he could, all the lights suddenly shut off.  
"What happened?" Uran asked.  
"I don't know." Hamegg said. "I'm gonna go see what happened. Don't move! I still have my electric cattle prod!"  
Even though it was pitched black down there, I could tell that Hamegg moved (mostly because I can hear him). Suddenly, I heard the sound of something falling.  
"Ow!" Hamegg cried out.  
"Hamegg?" I called. "Did you fall?"  
"Yes." He replied.  
I sighed, then turn on my x-ray vision.  
"Thank you." Hamegg said before going upstairs.  
"I don't get it." Uran said. "Why are you still helping him? Even after what he did to us!"  
"Because it's the right thing to do." I replied.  
Uran turned her x-ray vision on. "Yeah, but still."  
Hamegg's POV:  
I don't get it. Why did the power go off? That never happened before. I sighed. I can't worry about that now! I gotta get it back on before Astro and Uran realize that they have an opportunity to escape! If they escape, there's nothing I can really do about it!  
Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. I raised an eyebrow. Ever since the orphans left, I barely see anyone on the Surface anymore. Who could that possibly be?  
I opened the door and saw Cora.  
I frowned. "What are you doing here?"  
"I need your help." She replied.  
I raised an eyebrow. "With what? What could you possibly need my help for?"  
"It's Sludge." Cora replied.  
"What about him?" I asked.  
"I don't know where he is." Cora said.  
I looked around. "What makes you think he's here?"  
"We grew up here." Cora replied. "We still come here once in a while."  
"I guess that makes sense." I agreed. "Why should I help you?"  
"What if something happens to Sludge?" Cora exclaimed.  
"That's not my problem anymore." I said.  
"C'mon, Hamegg." Cora whined. "Do you really want something to happen to Sludge?"  
"I guess not." I admitted.  
"Then, please help me." She begged.  
I sighed. "Fine, but I'm not looking for long."  
"Thank you!" Cora said.  
I closed the door, then quickly locked it. I don't trust the orphan's anymore, especially Cora, Sludge, Widget, and Zane. This sounds like a trick, so I'm not taking any risks.  
Third Person POV:  
Meanwhile, Widget and Zane were hiding behind a couple of trash cans, waiting for the opportunity to sneak into Hamegg's lair.  
"Now what?" Widget whispered. "We can't get in."  
"Don't worry." Zane whispered back. "I still have a key."  
Widget nodded. She glanced over in Hamegg's direction.  
"Why does he keep looking in our direction?" She whispered. "Does he see us?"  
"I don't think so." Zane whispered. "He might be getting suspicious, though."  
"Now what?" Widget whispered. "We can't sneak in if he keeps looking back at his lair."  
"We just gotta wait." Zane whispered. "Hopefully, Cora will convince Hamegg that we're not up to anything."  
Cora's POV:  
Hamegg's gotta be suspicious of us. He keeps looking back! I gotta do something to distract him, but what?  
"Hamegg?" I said.  
"What?" He said.  
"I think I found Sludge." I lied.  
I pointed to a hand sticking out of a pile of broken robots (the same one we used to prank Astro).  
"Can you help me get him out?" I asked.  
Hamegg glared at the hand. "Sludge?"  
"Sludge" didn't say anything.  
"Sludge?" Hamegg repeated.  
"He may be unconscious." I suggested.  
Hamegg grumbled, then reached out for the hand. Only, I "accidentally" tripped, and crashed into Hamegg. We both fell into the pile of broken robots.  
"Watch it!" Hamegg said.  
"I'm sorry." I said. "I fell!"  
"Uh huh." Hamegg said, clearly not believing me.  
Hamegg turned back to the hand. He reached out for it and lifted it up.  
"What the-" Hamegg exclaimed. He turned to me. "Was this a trick?!"  
"No, it wasn't." I lied. "Why would I trick you?"  
"You know why!" He replied.  
"Oh, speaking of 'knowing,' do you know where Astro and Uran are?" I asked. "Dr. Tenma is searching for them."  
"You know where they are!" Hamegg replied. "Don't play dumb with me!"  
"No, I don't." I lied.  
"Yes, you do!" Hamegg exclaimed. "You know I've captured them and I'm using them to blackmail Dr. Tenma!"  
"Oh, yeah." I said. "Honestly, I'm kind of mad at Astro right now, so I've probably forgotten."  
"What are you mad about?" Hamegg asked.  
"Oh, we got into an argument." I said. "I don't wanna talk about it."  
"That's fine." Hamegg said. "Let's just go back to finding Sludge."  
"Yeah." I agreed. "Hopefully, he's okay."  
Hamegg grumbled something, then went back to searching. I smiled, and put my hand in my pocket. I don't think Hamegg noticed, but when I "tripped" and fell on him, I grabbed the key to his lair out of his pocket. Hopefully, he won't notice it's missing until it's too late.  
Zane's POV:  
I raised an eyebrow. Did-did Cora just fall? That's really weird. Cora's usually pretty careful. Why would she- oh, I get it. She's giving us an opportunity to sneak into Hamegg's lair! Clever!  
"Let's go." I whispered to Widget. "Cora gave us a chance to sneak into Hamegg's lair."  
Widget smiled. She and I quickly rushed to Hamegg's door. I took out the spare key that I took and unlocked the door. We quickly rushed inside. I closed the door and quickly locked it.  
"How are we gonna free Astro and Uran?" Widget asked. "We can't even see where we're going."  
I took out a flashlight, then turned it on.  
"Where'd you get that?" Widget asked.  
"I took it from the RRF the last time we were in their hideout." I replied. "I doubt they even noticed that it was missing."  
Widget smiled. "C'mon. Let's go find Astro and Uran!"  
Sludge's POV:  
Wow! Cora actually was able to lie to Hamegg! I'm impressed! Hopefully, Hamegg won't find me for a while. I'm hiding inside an old refrigerator robot next to Hamegg's lair. I've placed broken parts in front of me so Hamegg couldn't see me.  
"Hey, get out of me!" A voice said.  
Instantly, robot hands grabbed me and pulled me out of the refrigerator robot. Apparently, it wasn't disabled after all.  
"Sorry." I whispered. "I thought you no longer worked."  
"Well, I'm not." The robot said, with his robotic fists on his "hips."  
"Can you keep your voice down?" I whispered.  
"Why?" He asked.  
"I'm playing hide-and-seek." I lied.  
"Oh." He said. "Okay, then."  
"Hey, aren't you Mike the Fridge?" I asked.  
"Yup." He replied.  
"What are you doing here?" I asked.  
"I was sent to get a few supplies." Mike the Fridge replied. "I stopped to rest first."  
"Oh, okay." I said. "Listen, I'm sorry, but would you mind going away? If someone notices a robot that looks like it's talking to someone, they're gonna get suspicious."  
"Fine." Mike the Fridge said. "You really like hide-and-seek, huh?"  
"Yup." I replied, which wasn't a lie.  
He started to leave, then quickly came back.  
"Would, uh, would you like some leftover Chinese food?" He asked.  
"Yes, please." I replied.  
"Just to warn you, it's probably a little old." Mike the Fridge warned.  
"How old?" I asked.  
"Um, probably a couple of years old." He replied.  
"Uh, yeah." I said. "Actually, I changed my mind. I don't want any."  
AN 1: Well, that's Chapter 19. Tell me what you think. It was a lot longer than I thought it would be!


	20. Problems

Zane's POV:  
"Where do you think Astro and Uran are?" Widget asked.  
"I don't know." I said.  
"How are we gonna find them?" Widget asked.  
"I guess we're gonna just have to look around." I replied.  
Widget nodded. She headed towards the room we used to sleep in with the other orphans.  
"Wait for me!" I called.  
Cora's POV:  
Hamegg and I are still searching for Sludge. I don't know how long this can last for. Hamegg's probably gonna realize what's happening sooner or later.  
"Cora, I'm done." Hamegg said. "I can't search for Sludge anymore."  
"Can't we just search a little longer?" I asked. "Sludge could be in trouble."  
"Again, that's not my problem." Hamegg said. "I got other things to do. Good-bye."  
Hamegg started to walk back to his lair. I gotta do something!  
"Wait, Hamegg." I said. "I think I found Sludge."  
Hamegg turned around. "Yeah, that's what you said the last time!"  
"Just look." I said.  
Hamegg sighed, then walked over to me.  
"Where is he?" He asked.  
"There." I said pointing.  
"Where?" He asked, following my gaze.  
"There." I said.  
"I don't see anything." Hamegg insisted.  
"Just look!" I insisted.  
"I am!" Hamegg said. "No one is there! Are you seeing things?"  
I turned to where I was pointing. "I thought I saw something."  
"Are you sure Sludge is missing?" He asked.  
"Yes!" I said. "Zane and Widget are looking for him, too."  
"How do you know they haven't found him already?" Hamegg asked.  
"Because they would have called." I replied.  
Hamegg sighed. "Cora, I'm only gonna look for a few more minutes. If we haven't found him by then, you're on your own."  
"Okay." I said. "Thanks, Hamegg."  
We resumed the search. I hope Zane and Widget found Astro and Uran because I don't know how long I can keep this up!  
Astro's POV:  
"Why did the lights go out?" Uran asked.  
"I don't know." I replied. "A power outage, maybe."  
"I guess." Uran said. "Astro?"  
"Yeah?" I said.  
"Please don't do this!" Uran begged.  
"Uran, I don't have a choice!" I said.  
"Yes, you do!" Uran said. "Please don't!"  
"Uran, it'll be okay!" I insisted. "This is what I'm meant to do!"  
Uran was about to say something, but before she could, the door opened. We both looked up.  
"Astro." A voice said.  
I raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound like Hamegg, that sounded like-  
"Zane?!" I realized.  
"Yeah?" He said, coming downstairs.  
"What are you doing here?" I asked.  
"Widget, Cora and I came to save you." Zane replied.  
I raised an eyebrow. "Where are Cora and Widget?"  
"Cora's is distracting Hamegg and Widget's-" Zane started to say.  
He turned around and noticed that Widget wasn't behind him. "Widget?" He called.  
"Yeah?" Widget said from the other room.  
"I found them." Zane said.  
"Really?" Widget asked.  
She came into the room.  
"Hi, Widget." I said.  
"Hi, Astro!" Widget greeted, coming down the stairs. "Hi, Uran!"  
"Hello." Uran said.  
I smiled, then frowned. "Wait, did you say that Cora was distracting Hamegg?"  
"Yeah." Zane replied.  
I frowned. "How?"  
"She told him that Sludge is missing." Zane told me. "He actually bought it!"  
"We better make sure she's okay." I said.  
"Let's free you and Uran first." Zane said.  
"Free Uran first." I insisted.  
"On it." Zane said.  
Cora's POV:  
"That's it, Cora." Hamegg said. "I"m done! You're officially on your own!"  
I sighed. "Fine. Let me just text Widget and Zane first." I said.  
"Why?" Hamegg asked.  
"To see if they found Sludge or not." I replied.  
"Why do you need me to wait for that?" Hamegg asked.  
"Don't you want to know if they found him for not?" I asked.  
Hamegg sighed. "Make it quick."  
I nodded, then sent Zane a text. Zane texted back roughly twenty seconds later.  
"He said they found them." I said. "He's trapped in a hole."  
"Where are they?" Hamegg asked.  
"On the other side of the Surface." I replied.  
Hamegg's eyes widened. "That's nearly an hour walk!"  
"I know." I said.  
"I"m not walking there." Hamegg said. "Let's take my car instead."  
"Fine." I said. "We need to save Sludge."  
" I know that." Hamegg said. "You told me at least a thousand times already!"  
Hamegg started to walk to his car, and I started to follow him. Of course, I lied. I really did text Zane, but I warned him that Hamegg was going back to his lair. He asked me to stall him.  
"Why do I keep getting suckered into things?" Hamegg said under his breath.  
I ignored him. Suddenly, Hamegg stopped.  
"Why did you stop?" I asked.  
"Who are they?" Hamegg asked.  
"Who?" I asked.  
I turned in his direction, and my eyes widened. Standing there were Rick and Elect. Hamegg started to walk over to them.  
"Don't worry about them, Hamegg." I said, trying to remain calm. "They're probably just junk robots that were thrown to the Surface."  
Hamegg ignored me and continued to walk towards Rick and Elect.  
"Hey!" He said. "Who are you guys?"  
"I'm Rick." Rick said. "This is Elect."  
"Are-are you electricians," Hamegg asked.  
"Yes." Elect said. "Why?"  
I tried to signal to them to stop talking, but they didn't notice. They probably don't know that the guy in front of them is Hamegg! I wished we described to them what Hamegg looked like!  
"Are you here to fix the power?" Hamegg asked. "It's strange, you two look too advanced to be from- wait, you're not from the Surface, are you?"  
"No, we're not." Elect said.  
"You're from Metro City." Hamegg realized.  
His eyes widened, and he turned angrily to me.  
"This was a trick, wasn't it?" He demanded. "Sludge isn't really missing, is he? This was all a trick!"  
"He is missing!" I insisted.  
"I'm not falling for it any longer!" Hamegg said.  
He took out what looked like a cattle prod- wait, that's the cattle prod he used to zap Astro! Hamegg zapped Elect and Rick with it. Both of them screamed, then fell to the ground. Neither of them moved. Then, Hamegg pointed the cattle prod at me.  
"Don't make me electrocute you!" He warned.  
I took a step back. "Be careful with that!"  
"Start walking." Hamegg ordered.  
"What are you gonna do?" I asked.  
"You'll find out." Hamegg replied. "Now march back to my lair!"  
I did as he said. I hope Zane and Widget rescued Astro and Uran already, or we're all done for!  
Astro's POV:  
Zane was still trying to get Uran free, but he couldn't untie her.  
"Hamegg must have double-knotted this thing." Zane said.  
"Try cutting it." I said.  
"With what?" Zane asked.  
"Maybe scissors or pliers." I suggested.  
"I don't have any." Zane said.  
"I'll try to find some." Widget said.  
She got up and left the room.  
"Can't you just break them yourself?" Zane asked.  
"I don't know if I can." I replied. "Hamegg tied my wrists to the pillar so I can't move my arms."  
Zane turned to Uran. "Can you move?"  
Uran tried to. "No, I can't. Sorry."  
Zane sighed. "I guess we'll just have to wait for Widget."  
Widget's POV:  
I've found pliers! It wasn't hard, because Hamegg fixes robots. He had to have some tools lying around. I started to head back to the basement when the door opened. Cora came in, followed by Hamegg. Hamegg was carrying a cattle prod with him. I gasped, then hid under a table.  
"Where are they?" Hamegg demanded.  
"I don't know." Cora said.  
"I'm not falling for that again, Cora!" Hamegg said. "For your sake, you better tell me where they are!"  
"I really don't know!" Cora said. "For all I know, they may have freed Astro and Uran already."  
"We'll see about that." Hamegg said. "Head into the basement."  
"Why?" Cora asked.  
"Just do it!" Hamegg replied.  
Cora went into the basement, with Hamegg right behind her.  
"Oh, geez." I said. "Where's Sludge?"  
Sludge wasn't with them, so maybe he's still hiding. I better go find him. We need to help Cora, and probably Astro, Zane, and Uran now, too.  
I went outside and starting to search for Sludge.  
"Sludge?" I called softly so Hamegg couldn't hear me. "Sludge?"  
"Yeah?" Said a voice.  
I turned around and saw Sludge hiding behind a pile of broken robots.  
"There you are!" I said, walking over to him.  
"Did you guys find Astro and Uran?" Sludge asked.  
"We did, but we have bigger problems." I said.  
"What?" Sludge asked.  
"Hamegg found out that Cora was tricking him." I replied. "He forced her to go into the basement."  
Sludge gasped. "Where are the others?"  
"They're in the basement, too."  
"What are we gonna do?" Sludge asked.  
"I don't know." I said. "Should we ask ZOG?"  
"I guess." Sludge said. "Do you think he can help?"  
"It's worth a shot." I said.  
"Then let's go find him." Sludge said.  
I nodded, then we both ran off to find ZOG.  
AN 1: well, that's Chapter 20. Tell me what you think.


	21. ZOG's Help

Astro's POV:  
Zane, Uran, and I are waiting for Widget to return. I'm surprised that it took her this long to find a pair of pliers. Hopefully, she'll find some soon. These wires are starting to get uncomfortable. Suddenly, the door opens. We all looked up. Standing there was Cora, was a worried look on her face.  
"Cora?" I said. "I thought you were distracting Hamegg. Is everything okay?"  
"Not really." Cora replied.  
I raised an eyebrow. I could tell from her tone that something is up.  
"Cora, what's wrong?" I asked.  
Cora didn't reply. Instead, she came into the basement. Hamegg followed her!  
"So this was your rescue party, huh, Astro?" Hamegg asked calmly.  
Zane's eyes widened. "Cora!"  
Cora winced. "He saw Rick and Elect. He realized what was going on."  
Uran sighed. "We're gonna be here forever, aren't we?"  
"You just might." Hamegg told her. "Join your friends, Cora."  
Cora walked over to us. She gave me and Uran an "I'm sorry" look.  
"I can't believe I bought your act, Cora." Hamegg said. "I must be getting stupid."  
Hamegg came down the stairs.  
"Now, what should I do with all of you?" Hamegg asked, tapping the side of his face with his free hand. "Should I beat you? Zap you? Kill you?"  
Cora and Zane's eyes widened.  
"Hamegg, please let them go!" I begged.  
"Why should I?" Hamegg asked.  
"Because it's the right thing to do." I replied.  
"Hmm." Hamegg said, tapping the side of his face again. "Any other reasons?"  
I sighed. "Hamegg, how about this: I'll become your servant if you free Uran, Cora, and Zane."  
Cora's eyes widened even more. Zane turned to me, surprised.  
"What?!" Cora exclaimed.  
"But you already agreed to my deal." Hamegg said. "You can't just change it."  
"But I originally gave you the deal." I reminded him. "I can just revoke it."  
"You can't revoke it if I already agreed to it." Hamegg said.  
I thought it over. "You studied law, didn't you?"  
"I learned a lot in college." Hamegg told me.  
"W-what deal?" Cora asked.  
"Astro made a deal with me." Hamegg explained. "If I free Uran, he'll become my personal servant."  
Cora turned to me. "You'd do that for your sister?"  
"Yes, I would." I replied. "I'd do it for you guys, too."  
Zane sighed sadly. "I'm sure you would."  
"Aw, how touching." Hamegg said. "Zane and Cora, both of you follow me."  
"Why?" Cora asked.  
"'Cause I said so." Hamegg replied. "Let's go!"  
Cora and Zane went up the stairs. Hamegg followed them. Before he left, he turned to me and Uran.  
"Don't move!" He warned. "I still have my electric cattle prod. I'm not afraid to zap Cora and Zane with it if I have to."  
My eyes widened.  
"You're threatening to electrocute them?" I asked astonished. "You could kill them!"  
"Like I don't know that." Hamegg said sarcastically before leaving.  
"How cruel is he?" Uran asked.  
"Very." I replied.  
"Astro?" Uran said.  
"Yeah?" I said.  
"I'm sorry!" Uran said in a sad voice. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"  
"Uran, calm down!" I said. "It'll be okay."  
"No, it won't!" Uran cried. "I'm sorry that I was such a rotten sister!"  
"It's not your fault." I insisted. "These things happen."  
"Not like this!" Uran exclaimed. "Thanks to me, we're gonna be here forever and Zane, Widget, Sludge, and Cora are gonna suffer, too!"  
"You weren't a rotten sister." I insisted.  
"Yes, I was!" Uran said. "Stop lying to make me feel better!"  
"I'm not." I said. "Yes, you were being selfish, but everyone does once in a while. It's not your fault!"  
Uran sniffled a little. Strange, she shouldn't be able to cry. As human-like as we are, there are still some things that a human can do that we just can't do, and crying is one of them.  
I took her hand, and Uran started to calm down. She looked at me, then squeezed my hand back. I smiled at her. After a while, Uran fell asleep.  
Suddenly, I remembered something.  
"Now that I think of it, where are Sludge and Widget?" I wondered. "I don't think they were with Hamegg."  
Third Person POV:  
Meanwhile, Sludge and Widget were still looking for ZOG.  
"How did Hamegg find out Cora was tricking him?" Sludge asked.  
"I don't know." Widget replied. "Where have you been, anyway?"  
"I was hiding near the pile of broken robots." Sludge told her.  
"I thought you said you were gonna hide in that old refrigerator." Widget said.  
"I did." Sludge said. "I had to find a new hiding spot because the refrigerator was really Mike the Fridge."  
Widget raised an eyebrow. "Mike the Fridge? Isn't he a member of the RRF?"  
"Yeah." Sludge replied.  
"What was he doing there?" Widget asked.  
"He told me that he was sent to get something, but he stopped to rest first." Sludge told her.  
"Okay." Widget said slowly. "What was he gonna get?"  
"I didn't ask." Sludge said.  
Widget sighed. "Where is ZOG?"  
"I don't know." Sludge said. "Isn't he waiting for us?"  
"Yeah." Widget said. "Cora told him to wait until we ask for him."  
"Sh-should we call him, then?" Sludge asked.  
"I guess so." Widget replied. "ZOG?"  
ZOG didn't reply.  
"ZOG?" Sludge said, a little louder.  
Still nothing.  
"ZOG!" Sludge and Widget yelled at the top of their lungs.  
"I hope Hamegg didn't hear that." Widget said.  
"Probably not." Sludge said. "We're at the other side of the Surface."  
"We're that far?" Widget asked.  
"Yup." Sludge said. "You think ZOG heard us?"  
"I hope so." Widget said. "I hurt my throat yelling that loudly."  
"Stop being a baby." Sludge said.  
Widget was about to say something, but they heard a voice.  
"What's the matter?" Someone asked.  
They both turned around and saw ZOG.  
"ZOG, Hamegg captured Cora and Zane." Widget told him.  
"He did?" ZOG asked. "How?"  
"We don't know." Sludge replied. "What should we do?"  
ZOG turned in the direction of Hamegg's lair.  
"Maybe we could ask the RRF to help." Sludge suggested.  
Widget thought about it. "Let's not."  
"Why not?" Sludge asked. "Because Astro and Uran are robots, the RRF will probably help us free them. Then, Astro can save Cora and Zane."  
"The RRF isn't very helpful." Widget reminded him. "None of their plans have worked."  
"Maybe this one could." Sludge said.  
Widget raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Okay, fine." Sludge said annoyed. "What should we do, then?"  
"What did Hamegg do to Astro and Uran?" ZOG asked.  
"They tied them up to a pillar." Widget told him.  
"With what?" ZOG asked.  
"Wire." Widget replied.  
"Try using this." ZOG suggested.  
He lowered his hand. In the middle of his palm was the syringe that Zane took from the Ministry of Science.  
"How's that gonna help?" Sludge asked.  
"It may help Astro and Uran slip through the wires." ZOG suggested.  
Widget nodded. "It could."  
"But how do we get in?" Sludge asked.  
"Try sneaking in." ZOG suggested.  
Sludge and Widget exchanged a look.  
"Yeah, I guess we could do that." Sludge said.  
"Need me for anything?" ZOG asked.  
"Uh, wait outside Hamegg's lair." Widget suggested. "That way, you can catch Hamegg if he tries to run."  
ZOG nodded.  
"Let's go!" Sludge said.  
Sludge and Widget started to run to Hamegg's lair.  
"Forgot something?" ZOG asked.  
Sludge and Widget walked back to him.  
"What?" Sludge asked.  
ZOG lowered his hand, revealing the syringe.  
"Oh, yeah." Widget said. "Thanks."  
She grabbed the syringe out of ZOG's hand.  
"No biggie." ZOG said.  
AN: well, that's Chapter 21. Tell me what you think!


	22. Trial and Error

Hamegg's POV:  
"So, it's come to this." I said, forcing Zane and Cora into my workplace. "I've raised you both, and you both double-crossed me. How sad."  
"You deserved it!" Cora insisted.  
"Oh, I did?" I said. "Hm. Interesting. In that case, you both deserve this!"  
With that, I kicked them both. First Cora, then Zane (because she was closer to me).  
"OW!" Cora yelled. "Are you nuts?! I'm bleeding! Thanks a lot, you son of a-"  
"I wouldn't if I were you." Zane warned, rubbing his arm where he fell.  
"Nice to know one of your brains work." I said.  
I pointed my electric cattle prod at them again.  
"Now here's the deal." I said. "Find me a pair of ropes, and I won't zap you."  
"Why?" Cora asked. "Why do you want ropes fo-"  
Cora's eyes widened. "You're gonna tie us up, aren't you?"  
"What do you know." I said. "Both of your brains work, after all."  
Zane sighed. "Where's the rope?"  
"In the cabinet, next to my workbench." I told him. "Don't get anything else. I'm gonna watch you both like a hawk. I'm done falling for your tricks."  
"Fine." Cora said.  
"First, turn all of your pockets inside out." I ordered.  
Zane raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want us to turn our pockets inside out?"  
"So that way if either of you tries to sneak anything into your pockets, I'll know." I replied. "You know what? Take off your jackets while you're at it, and toss them on the floor."  
Cora and Zane turned their pockets inside out, then took off their jackets before placed them on the floor.  
"Kick it towards the other side of the room." I ordered.  
They did as they were told.  
Cora opened her mouth.  
"I know what you're gonna ask." I interrupted. "I wanted you guys to remove your jackets 'cause I didn't know if there were any hidden pockets in them. I'm not taking any risks this time."  
Cora and Zane didn't say anything. However, they both flashed me an angry look (which I ignored).  
I smiled briefly before frowning again. "Now, fetch the ropes."  
Cora and Zane looked at each other briefly. Cora sighed, then they both went to find the ropes. After roughly ten seconds, Cora and Zane took them out of the cabinet. I knew they would find them easily. I'm generally very organized when it comes to my equipment. If it took them longer than at least thirty seconds, they had to be up to something.  
I smiled. "Good. Now head back to the basement."  
Cora and Zane exchanged a look again. Then, they headed back down to the basement.  
Third Person POV:  
Unknown to Hamegg, Cora, and Zane, Widget and Sludge were listening to them behind a broken robot (the same one Astro accidentally destroyed). They waited for them to leave before they said anything.  
"Now what?" Sludge asked. "We can't save them as long as Hamegg has that electric cattle prod."  
"We gotta get it away from him." Widget suggested.  
"And how are we gonna do that?" Sludge asked, somewhat sarcastically.  
"Maybe we can use you as bait." Widget said with a smile.  
"Very funny." Sludge said annoyed. "Seriously, what are we gonna do? Tickle him until he lets go of it?"  
You could tell that Widget was actually considering it.  
"I was kidding!" Sludge said.  
"I'm not." Widget insisted. "Maybe he can get him to drop it."  
"By tickling him?" Sludge said. "That's our plan?"  
"It could be." Widget said. "We don't have to actually tickle him. We could do something else."  
"Like what?" Sludge asked.  
"We could punch him, kick him, or pinch him." Widget suggested.  
"Will any of them actually cause him to let go of the cattle prod?" Sludge asked.  
"Let's test it out." Widget suggested with a smile.  
"Huh?" Sludge said.  
Roughly a second later, his eyes widened.  
"You gotta be joking." He said.  
Astro's POV:  
(Roughly five minutes ago).  
Hamegg took Cora and Zane upstairs. I don't really know what Hamegg has in mind, but right now, I'm more concerned with what he's gonna do to Cora, Zane, and Uran. I really don't care what happens to me, as long as they're okay. And Sludge and Widget, wherever they are.  
"Can't we free ourselves now?" Uran asked suddenly. "Hamegg's distracted, so he won't know what we're doing. We can hide until he comes down the stairs. Then, we can save Cora and Zane."  
"It's a nice idea." I admitted. "However, it's way too risky."  
"Why?" Uran asked.  
"Because if we mess up, Hamegg will zap us and probably Cora and Zane, too." I told her.  
"What if we don't mess up?" Uran asked.  
"Uran, no!" I said.  
"Fine." Uran said. "Can't we do something?"  
"Unfortunately, no." I said.  
Uran sighed. "Again, I'm sorry."  
"Stop apologizing." I said. "It wasn't your fault."  
"Yes, it was!" Uras cried. "I know you mean well, but it's just making me feel worst!"  
I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, the door suddenly opened. Uran and I turned to the door. Cora and Zane both came down the stairs, with Hamegg behind them.  
"Are you guys all right?" I asked.  
"Yeah, we're fine." Zane insisted.  
"I'm glad to hear-" I started to say.  
I noticed both of their arms. They each had a cut on them.  
"Wha-what happened to your arms?" I asked.  
"I shoved them to the floor." Hamegg told me.  
My eyes widened. "Why would you do that?"  
"To prove a point." Hamegg replied. "Besides, they had it coming."  
I raised an eyebrow, then turned to Cora and Zane. "Why'd he do that to you guys?"  
"He got mad because we told him off." Cora replied.  
"Why do you have rope with you?" Uran asked.  
"Hamegg wanted us to bring it with us." Zane told her. "He's gonna tie us up, too."  
"Oh, I'm not gonna tie you guys up." Hamegg said. "Cora, you're gonna tie Zane up, and Astro, you're gonna tie Cora up."  
I raised an eyebrow. "How am I gonna do that? My hands are tied up!"  
"Don't think I don't know that." Hamegg said. "I'm the one that tied you up, remember? You can move your hands around a little. It should be enough to tie Cora up."  
"Can I do it?" Uran asked.  
We all looked at her.  
"You wanna do it?" Hamegg asked. "Why?"  
"Yeah, why?" Cora asked.  
"Because I feel bad." Uran replied. "This is my fault, and I know it. Tying her up will make me feel less guilty."  
Hamegg thought it over. "Fine. It can't hurt."  
"Thank you." Uran said.  
"Well, let's get started, shall we?" Hamegg said. "Cora, tie Zane up, and no tricks."  
Third Person POV:  
Meanwhile, Sludge and Widget were still trying to decide which method would make Hamegg drop the electric cattle prod. They decided that the best way to do that was by making Sludge hold a stick (which ZOG got for them as Widget requested). Widget has already pinched and punched him, but so far, Sludge hasn't dropped the stick once, but he did get a couple of bruises (including a black eye).  
"Well, so far nothing worked." Widget said. "Let's try kicking you."  
"Can't we switch places?" Sludge whined.  
"Don't be a baby." Widget said with a smile.  
Sludge send her an angry glare, obviously getting the reference.  
"FIne." Sludge said. "Let's just get this over with."  
Widget nodded, then kicked him in the shin. Sludge yelped, dropped the stick, grabbed his foot, then started to jump up and down.  
"Got it!" Widget said. "We gotta kick Hamegg!"  
"Great!" Sludge said sarcastically.  
He turned away from Widget, still holding his foot and jumping up and down.  
"Why did we have to do that one last?" He whined under his breath.  
After a couple of seconds, he stopped jumping up and down.  
"C'mon, Sludge." Widget said. "Just be glad it's over."  
"Yeah." Sludge said. "So, are we ready?"  
"I guess so." Widget said.  
"How are we gonna kick him without him noticing?" Sludge asked.  
"Let's make a noise, hide, then kick him when he gets close enough." Widget suggested.  
"That might work." Sludge said. "Let's go save them!"  
Astro's POV:  
Cora just tied Zane up. I feel bad for him. It looks very uncomfortable!  
"Good job." Hamegg said with his arms crossed (with the cattle prod still in his hand). "Uran, tie Cora up now."  
Cora sighed, then walked over to Uran. She handed her the rope, then turned around. She placed her hands behind her back as if she was under arrest. Uran started to tie her up. After a few seconds, she briefly stopped, which was kind of weird. I can't tell for sure, but I think she's up to something. I don't know what...  
Uran's POV:  
Actually, I kind of lied. I didn't really wanna tie Cora up myself because I felt guilty about this (which I honestly did). However, I wasn't lying when I said that I wanted to make up for what I did. What Hamegg didn't know (or noticed) was that after he zapped me with his cattle prod outside of his lair, I grabbed an old knife that was lying next to me before I passed out.  
While Cora was tying Zane up, I took it out. Luckily, no one noticed, not even Astro. I hid it with my hand until Cora walked over to me. While I was tying her up, I made her clap her hands together (silently so no one could hear it), placing the knife partially in the middle of them. Hopefully, she'll be able to take the hint and free herself and Zane, and Astro, too. I said that I was gonna start thinking about other people, and I meant it! I hope Astro will be proud of me.  
AN 1: well, that's chapter 21. Tell me what you think! Sorry that it took so long for me to post this. I was very busy lately!  
AN 2: reply to newguy.126548's review: thanks for the review. I really appreciate it! Sorry about all of the delays. They'll be freed next chapter. I promise!


	23. The Path to Freedom

Cora's POV:  
My eyes widened. As Uran was tying me up, she placed something in my hands. Instantly, I realized what it was. It was a knife! Where did she get a knife from?! What did she want me to do with it? Stab Hamegg?!  
I took a breath. I realized that she didn't want me to kill Hamegg. She wanted me to free myself with it! That must be the reason she insisted on tying me up. Maybe she's not so bad after all. Exactly how am I supposed to cut myself free? She tied my arms together very tightly, so what did she have in mind? Wait, maybe I could free Zayne with it first, then he can free me! Then, we can free Astro and Uran together. Yeah, that's what we'll do!  
Third Person POV:  
Meanwhile, Sludge and Widget were waiting outside of the basement's door for the right moment to free Astro, Uran, Zane, and Cora.  
"What kind of noise should we make?" Widget asked.  
"We could pretend to be a cat." Sludge suggested. "When Hamegg comes out of the basement, we'll kick him."  
"I don't know." Widget said. "I don't think he'll fall for any of our tricks anymore."  
"Then, what should we do?" Sludge asked.  
"Let's do something so normal Hamegg won't get suspicious." Widget suggested.  
"Like what?" Sludge said.  
"Let's, uh, let's fight each other." Widget said. "Hamegg is so used to it he won't suspect anything."  
"No way!" Sludge said. "I already have one black eye!"  
"We don't have to beat each other up." Widget said. "We could just argue."  
"Will Hamegg fall for it?" Sludge asked.  
"There's only one way to find out." Widget said.  
Sludge thought it over. "Okay. Let's give it a shot!"  
Astro's POV:  
"Who knew things would turn out like this." Hamegg said with a smile and his arms crossed. "First, Astro was secretly a robot and Dr. Tenma's so-called son. Then, Cora, Zane, and the other orphans betrayed me. Then, Tenma created a robotic sister for Astro, and now I've got you all right where I want you."  
"Satisfied, Hamegg?" Zane asked, flashing him a look.  
"Actually, yes." Hamegg said. "It's nice to see things my way for a change."  
"Things usually do go your way." Cora said.  
"I meant things went my way for the better." Hamegg told her. "Ever since I met Astro, things have gotten worse for me."  
"It's not my fault, Hamegg." I insisted.  
"Oh, it isn't?" Hamegg said. "Let's see: you ruined the Robot Games for me; the orphans grew to despise me; no one's trusted me since, and life has also gotten much worst for me since I've met you. So, yeah, I think it is."  
I sighed, then looked at the ground.  
"I wonder what my life would be like if I just told you guys that I was a robot." I said to myself.  
"Yeah, I'd like to know, too." Hamegg said.  
I turned to look at him.  
"Honestly, I'd like to know, too, Astro." Zane said.  
I turned to him. "Zane!"  
"What?" Zane said. "I really do wanna know."  
I open my mouth, but before a could say anything, we could hear loud noises coming from upstairs.  
"Oh, what now?" Hamegg complained.  
We all stopped to listen. We could hear what sounded like people yelling at each other.  
"I'm gonna go see what's going on." Hamegg said. "Don't move."  
"Like we have much of a choice." Cora said sarcastically.  
"Cora-" I started to say.  
"What?" She spat out.  
"Don't make him mad." I warned.  
"How can I make him mad?" Cora asked. "My arms are tied up, so all I can really do is walk around and complain."  
"Still." I said. "Try not to risk anything."  
Cora sighed. "Sorry. I'm just getting stressed out, is all."  
"I get it." I said with sympathy in my voice.  
"Yeah, yeah. How sad" Hamegg said sarcastically. "Seriously, get used to it, already. I'll be right back."  
Hamegg walked up the stairs. After he left the room, he shut the door behind him.  
"What was that noise, anyway?" Zane asked.  
"It sounded like someone yelling." Cora said.  
I didn't say anything. Instead, I started to listen. My hearing started to enhance, and I could hear what sounded like two people shouting, only much clearer this time. Strange, it sounded like-  
My eyes widened. "Guys, I think that's Sludge and Widget yelling."  
Zane turned to me. "How can you tell?"  
"Robots have very advanced hearing." I explained.  
"I can hear it, too." Uran said. "It does sound like them."  
"It can't be them." Cora said. "I told Sludge not to move until we rescued you."  
"What about me?" Uran said.  
"We were gonna free you, too." Cora told her. "Geez. Calm down."  
"Where was Widget, anyway?" I asked. "I thought she was looking for a pair of pliers."  
"She was." Zane said. "I've honestly forgotten about her."  
"So did I." Cora admitted. "I hope she's okay."  
"If that is her, I really hope so, too." I said.  
Hamegg's POV:  
(Roughly a few minutes earlier).  
After leaving the basement, I closed the door behind me, then locked it. I'm not taking any chances this time.  
After I locked the door, I turned around. Standing there were Sludge and Widget. Why am I not surprised?  
"What are you two doing here?" I asked, walking over to them.  
"We got hungry." Widget told me.  
"So why have you come here?" I asked. "I"m not your guardian, anymore."  
"We were with Cora and Zane, but they left to take care of something." Sludge said. "Have you seen them?"  
"No." I lied, not sure yet if this was a trick or not. "What were you two yelling about, anyway?"  
"Tell her that it does matter that I was born first." Sludge said, pointing at Widget.  
"By only ninety seconds." Widget said, lightly shoving him.  
I slapped myself on the head with my left hand (because I was still holding the electric cattle prod with the other one). "Not that again. Will you two just get over it?"  
"But it does matter." Sludge insisted.  
"No, it doesn't." Widget whined.  
I sighed. "What do you want me to do?"  
"Just tell us." Sludge said.  
"Tell you what?" I asked.  
"Does it matter that I'm older than her?" Sludge replied.  
"I don't know." I told them, not really caring. "It's not like you two are gonna inherit anything."  
"Inherit what?" Widget asked.  
"I don't know." I replied. "Money, a house, cars."  
Sludge's eyes widened. "From who?"  
"Whom." I corrected.  
"Whom?" Sludge repeated.  
"Anyone who wrote your name in their will." I told him.  
"What does that have to do with it?" Widget asked.  
I sighed. "Nevermind."  
"So, does it matter?" Widget asked.  
Annoyed, I walked over to them.  
"No, it doesn't matter!" I yelled. "Seriously, I don't know how long you two have been going on about this, but seriously, knock it off! You're driving me-"  
Before I could finish, I noticed that Sludge and Widget turned towards each other, then nodded their heads.  
I calmed down a little. "What are you two-"  
Before I could finish, Widget kicked me very hard in the shin.  
"OW!" I yelled.  
I dropped the electric cattle prod, then grabbed my foot. I started to hop up and down on my other foot. Before I could even react, Sludge grabbed the cattle prod.  
"Good job!" Sludge said.  
"You, too." Widget said.  
I stopped hopping up and down and glared at them.  
"Give me that!" I ordered.  
I reached out for it, but before I could grab it, Sludge pointed it at me. Instantly, I stopped.  
"Be careful with that thing!" I warned. "That thing can't destroy a robot, but it can kill a human."  
"Don't move, then." Sludge said.  
"Give us the key to the basement." Widget added.  
"What if I refuse?" I asked.  
"Either we'll zap you, or I'll kick you again." Widget replied.  
I stared at her, then took the key out of my pocket. I started to walk over to her.  
"Don't move." Sludge said. "Just kick it over here."  
I did as he said. Widget grabbed the key.  
"Thank you." Widget said.  
She walked over to the basement door. After opening it, she went inside.  
I turned angrily to Sludge. "This was a trick, wasn't it?"  
Sludge smiled. "Yup!"  
I growled a little.  
Astro's POV  
The door suddenly opened. Looking up, we saw Widget at the top of the stairs.  
My eyes widened. "Widget! What are you doing here? Are you all right?"  
"Yeah, I'm okay." Widget replied. "I've come to save you guys."  
"Where's Sludge?" Zane asked.  
"He's taking care of Hamegg." Widget replied.  
"How?" I asked.  
"We were able to take away his electric cattle prod." Widget replied. "Sludge is threatening Hamegg with it. He's not going anywhere for a while!"  
"Nice!" Zane said.  
Widget smiled, then quickly frowned. She started to tap the side of her face with the cattle prod.  
"Now, who should I free first?' she said to herself.  
"Free me." Cora suggested. "I have a knife. I can help you free the others."  
"Where'd you get a knife?" Zane asked.  
"I gave it to her." Uran told him.  
"When did you do that?" I asked.  
"While she was tying me up." Cora replied.  
"Oh." I said. "I thought you were tying her up kind of strangely."  
Uran smiled at me. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve."  
Widget walked over to Cora, then untied her.  
"I'll untie Astro and Uran." Widget told her. "You untie Zane."  
"Got it." Cora said.  
Widget walked over to us. She took out what looked like a syringe.  
My eyes widened. "What is that?"  
"Don't worry, Astro." Widget said. "It just shoots out oil."  
"You're not gonna inject us, are you?" I asked.  
"No." Widget said.  
She walked over to Uran, then started to shoot oil all over her. Instantly, Uran slid out of the wires. She looked down at herself.  
"My dress has oil all over it!" She complained.  
"Uran, we can wash it later." I said, trying not to sound annoyed.  
Uran pouted a little but she didn't say anything. Widget walked over to me, then started to shoot oil all over me this time. The problem was, I'm roughly a foot taller than she is, so she couldn't quite reach the top of my head.  
"Allow me." Cora said, who just finished freeing Zane.  
She walked over to us, took the syringe, then shot oil over the rest of my body. Instantly, I fell out of the wires and landed on my back. Because of the oil, I slid across the floor a little. Everyone laughed.  
"Very funny." I said.  
I got up and instantly fell again. Everyone laughed again, only much louder this time.  
I ignored them, then started to wipe the oil off of me. After I got the oil off of my feet, I flew to a part of the room that didn't have oil on the floor.  
I sighed. "Let's go get Sludge, then get out of this place."  
"I don't think so." A voice said.  
We all turned. Standing at the top of the stairs was Hamegg, grabbing Sludge by the collar of his shirt! He was holding the electric cattle prod in his other hand.  
"Sludge!" Widget cried.  
"He got close enough to trip me." Sludge told us. "I dropped the cattle prod."  
"I told you that I was done falling for your tricks." Hamegg said. "Obviously, none of you were done falling for mine!"  
"Let him go, Hamegg." I said.  
"Hm." Hamegg said. "Here's a thought: tie yourselves back up again, and I won't kill Sludge."  
Hamegg charged up the cattle prod and pointed it at Sludge.  
"Please, don't." Widget begged with tears in her eyes.  
"Then, do as I said." Hamegg told her.  
Widget started to tie her hands up with the leftover rope. Zane and Cora looked at each other, then started to do the same thing.  
I looked at Uran and sighed. "Let's just do as he says."  
"You can." Uran said. "But I'm gonna do things my way this time."  
"Uran, don't do anything foolish." I warned. "A single volt of electricity from that thing is enough to kill a human."  
"Don't worry." Uran said. "The only one that's gonna be hurt will be Hamegg."  
"What are you gonna do?" Hamegg demanded. "As powerful as you are, you still have weaknesses, and electricity just so happens to be one of them."  
"Maybe." Uran said. "But which one of me are you gonna hit?"  
"Huh?" Hamegg said, raising an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"  
Uran closed her eyes. "Let me be two!"  
I raised an eyebrow, not too sure what she was doing. After a second or two, a vertical line appeared in the center of Uran's body. Instantly, her body split in half!  
"Woah!" Uran... uh, both halve of her body said.  
She was struggling to keep her balance. Roughly three seconds later, each half of her body grew the other half. Now there were two Urans!  
Both of the Urans looked at each other. They nodded, then turned angrily to Hamegg. The one on the left's arm transformed into an arm cannon, and she sent a blast at Hamegg. It hit him in the shoulder.  
"OW!" Hamegg screamed.  
He let go of both Sludge and the cattle prod. Sludge ran over to us, and the Uran on the right flew over to Hamegg and grabbed the cattle prod. She tossed it in the air, and the Uran on the left destroyed it.  
"I-I didn't know you could do that." Cora told her in complete shock.  
"Neither did I." I said.  
"Can you do that, Astro?" Widget asked.  
"I-I don't think so." I admitted.  
Both of the Urans smiled at us. Then, they both merged into one Uran again. She walked over to Hamegg.  
Hamegg, with his hand still on his shoulder, looked up at her. "What do you want? An apology? 'Cause you're not gonna get it!"  
"Nope." Uran replied. "But I'm gonna give you something."  
"What?" Hamegg asked.  
"This!" Uran said.  
Her arm transformed into an arm cannon, and she pointed it at Hamegg.  
Hamegg's eye's widened. "You wouldn't dare! You may not be affected by the Laws of Robots, but you still wouldn't dare hurt a human!"  
Uran, stoically, looked at him.  
"Think about what your brother would do!" Hamegg begged.  
"I'm not Astro, now am I?" Uran said.  
With that, she fired a blast at Hamegg.  
Third Person POV:  
Sludge, Widget, Cora, and Zane all closed their eyes. Roughly a second later, Sludge opened his.  
"Look!" He said softly.  
Widget and Cora opened their eyes. Cora gasped, then Widget. Roughly a second later, Hamegg opened his eyes, and he gasped. Astro, in the middle of the room, stood completely still from shock. Uran's arm cannon transformed back into an arm. Hamegg turned his head to the right and saw the smoldering wall behind him from Uran's blast.  
"You-you missed." Hamegg told him.  
"You weren't my target." Uran told him.  
Hamegg, confused, just stared at her. He looked at the smoldering wall again. He faced her again, and his eyes widened.  
"You were just trying to scare me, weren't you?" Hamegg said. "You weren't really gonna kill me."  
"No, I wasn't." Uran told him softly. "I'm a lot more like my brother than you realized."  
Hamegg stared at her. "What kind of robots are you two?"  
Uran didn't say anything for a moment, then she spoke. "I'm a lot like my brother. However, I'm still my own person... uh, robot, so I can do this."  
She grabbed Hamegg, then threw him across the room. Hamegg flew through the air, then crashed into the wall. He fell to the floor with a thud.  
"Ow..." Hamegg moaned.  
I turned to Uran.  
"Uran!" I cried.  
"What?" She said. "He deserved it!"  
AN: well, that's Chapter 23. Tell me what you think. Sorry that I haven't updated in a couple of days. I had a lot on my mind! I hope that this chapter made up for it!


	24. Liberation

Astro's POV:  
(Sometime later).  
Cora, Sludge, Widget, Zane, Uran, and I all waited outside of Hamegg's lair. ZOG was there, too, standing next to us. The Metro City police have also just arrived to arrest Hamegg. Unfortunately, they're gonna have to wait, first. Apparently, after Uran threw Hamegg (again), she broke some of his bones (I know, I x-rayed him myself).  
The paramedics came out, with Hamegg on a stretcher. The police were surrounding them, just to make sure Hamegg doesn't try anything. Hamegg glanced at us before he was placed in the ambulance. We all shot him a look, including me. I can't believe I ever saw him as a father figure!  
The paramedics placed Hamegg in the ambulance, and they started to drive away. The police followed them. As far as I know, there are no hospitals on the Surface, so they're probably heading for a hospital in Metro City. After they left, a car landed on the Surface. I recognized it as Dad's car. Sure enough, Dad got out of it a few seconds later, with Orrin behind him.  
"Astro! Uran!" Dad shouted, rushing over to us.  
Uran and I rushed to greet him.  
"Dad!" I greeted with a smile.  
Uran hugged his legs, mostly because she wasn't tall enough to hug the rest of his body.  
When Uran was done hugging him, I went over to him.  
"Astro!" Dad said, hugging me. "I couldn't bear the thought of losing you again!"  
"What about me?" Uran complained.  
"I never lost you like this before." Dad told her. "However, I'm glad you're safe, too."  
Uran smiled.  
"I'm so glad you're all right." Orrin said.  
I smiled, and hugged him, too. I could tell that Orrin was surprised, but he hugged me back, anyway. At that moment, three more cars landed on the Surface, and Sludge, Widget, Cora, and Zane's parents came out.  
Third Person POV:  
"Mom! Dad!" Cora greeted, rushing up to them.  
"Cora!" Cora's parents said in unison.  
"Are you alright?" Her mother asked.  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Cora said.  
"Mom! Dad!" Zane, Widget, and Sludge said simultaneously, rushing to their respective families.  
"Sludge! Widget! Are you two all right?" Their dad asked.  
"Yeah, we're fine." Sludge said.  
"What-what happened to your eye?" Their mother asked, lightly touching Sludge's blackened eye.  
"Nothing." Sludge said. "Just a little test."  
"What are you talking about?" Their father asked. "What test?"  
"We'll explain later." Widget told them.  
"Are you okay, Zane." Zane's mother asked.  
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Zane replied.  
"You're bleeding." His father said. "What happened?"  
"Don't worry about it." Zane replied. "I'll be fine."  
"But-" His mother started to say.  
"I'll be fine." Zane repeated.  
Astro's POV:  
"Can we go home now?" Uran asked.  
"Yes, we can." Dad replied. "And since the Ministry's shut down, I don't have to go to work. So, I can go with you."  
I smiled, then turned to the others.  
"I hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna say good-bye to my friends first before we go." I said.  
"That's fine." Dad said. "Make it quick, though. I wanna get off of this place."  
I nodded, then walked over to the others. Uran followed me. Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge all noticed us approaching and came over to us.  
"Thanks, guys for your help." I said. "Who knows what would have happened if you guys didn't save us?"  
"Consider it our way of saying thank you." Cora said.  
I rose an eyebrow. "For what?"  
"For helping us since we met you." Zane replied.  
I smiled. "Don't mention it."  
"So, what's gonna happen now?" Widget asked.  
"What do you mean?" I asked.  
"With Hamegg." Widget replied. "What's gonna happen to him?"  
"He's probably gonna go to jail." Cora said.  
"And we're probably gonna have to testify in court." I added.  
"Do we have to?" Zane complained.  
"Unfortunately, yes." I told him. "It'll increase Hamegg's chances of going to jail."  
"Actually, that sounds worth it." Zane said.  
"Still, I can't believe he would do this to Astro." Sludge said. "Even after he saved his life."  
"Yeah, some people just don't change." Cora said.  
"Yeah." I said. "Well, Uran and I are gonna go. Dad wants us to leave the Surface as soon as possible."  
"I get it." Cora said. "I'm kinda tired of the Surface, too."  
"I hear ya." Zane agreed.  
"Well, 'bye, guys." I said.  
"'Bye, Astro." Widget said. "'Bye, Uran."  
She and Sludge came to us, obviously wanting a hug good-bye.  
"Wait, guys." I warned. "I don't think you should hug us because-"  
Before I could finish, Widget hugged me and Sludge hugged Uran.  
"Of the oil." I finished.  
Widget and Sludge's eyes widened. They instantly let go of us. Both of them were covered in oil.  
"I tried to warn you, guys." I said.  
"I'm glad you guys hugged them before I did." Cora joked.  
"Me too." Zane agreed.  
Widget and Sludge turned to them.  
"What?" Zane said. "We are."  
"You can just wash your clothes, you know." Cora said.  
"No, we will." Widget and Sludge's father said from behind us.  
Cora turned to him (and Sludge and Widget's mother).  
"You know what I meant." She said.  
"Well, see ya, guys." I said with a small wave.  
"'Bye, Astro." Cora said.  
"See ya." Zane said.  
"See ya tomorrow." Sludge said.  
"'Bye." Widget said.  
"'Bye, ZOG." I said.  
ZOG waved good-bye.  
I started to walk to the car. I turned around and noticed Uran. She waved good-bye, then followed me.  
"Oh, and thanks for saving us, Uran." Cora said.  
Uran turned to her, then smiled.  
Third Person POV:  
On the car ride home, Dr. Tenma was rather quiet. You could tell that he was trying not to cry. What happened to Astro and Uran was too much for him. Astro decided to break the silence.  
"Dad?" He said.  
Dr. Tenma turned to him. "Yes, Astro?"  
"You're not really gonna shut down the Ministry forever, are you?" He asked.  
"Of course not, Astro." Dr. Tenma admitted. "While I did make a deal with Hamegg, he never did fulfill his promise of freeing you. So, I really don't have to keep my end of the bargain anymore. However, it will take me some time to repair the Ministry. I'm hoping to do it as soon as possible. I wanna make sure that Hamegg didn't do any permanent damage to either of you."  
"He didn't." Uran insisted.  
"I'm not taking the risk." Dad told her. "There's no telling what Hamegg may have done to you."  
"I'm more concerned with what Uran did to him." Astro said.  
"What do you mean?" Dr. Tenma asked.  
"Before the police showed up, Uran threw him into the wall." Astro said.  
"Again?" Dr. Tenma said.  
"Yup." Astro said.  
Dr. Tenma nodded. "Frankly, I hope you did some serious damage to him."  
"Dad!" Astro said.  
"Well, he did deserve it." Dr. Tenma insisted.  
Uran smiled.  
"Yeah, but still." Astro said.  
They were quiet for the next few minutes before Astro spoke.  
"So, Uran." He said. "How long did you have that ability for?"  
"I don't know." Uran admitted. "I discovered it in my bedroom a few days ago."  
"What ability?" Dr. Tenma asked.  
"Uran was the one that defeated Hamegg." Astro told him. "She somehow divided herself into two."  
Dr. Tenma's eyes widened. "She divided herself into two? You mean, she actually created a duplicate of herself?"  
"I think so." Astro told him.  
He turned to Uran. "Why didn't you use that power before?"  
"I don't like to use it." Uran told him.  
"Why?" Astro asked.  
"Not only does my body divide in two, but my powers do, too." Uran told him.  
"So you can't use some of your powers when you duplicate yourself?" Dr. Tenma asked.  
"Kinda." Uran said. "Either my duplicate can't, or I can't."  
"Interesting." Dr. Tenma said.  
"Why didn't you test her for that power?" Astro asked.  
"I only tested the powers that I programmed her to have." Dr. Tenma told him. "For some of her powers, I programmed the computer at the Ministry to give her certain abilities at random. Even I don't know every power she has."  
"Why did you give her powers at random?" Astro asked.  
"Well, when humans are born, their characteristics are chosen by DNA." Dr. Tenma reminded him. "I decided to give her powers at random so that her 'birth' would be more natural in a sense."  
"You weren't kidding when you said that you wanted her to have her own identity." Astro said.  
"No, I wasn't." Dr. Tenma said.  
Astro's POV:  
(After arriving home).  
"You had a long day and it's late." Dad said. "You should go to bed."  
Uran and I nodded, then headed to our rooms. On the way there, I stopped at Uran's room and knocked on her door.  
"Come in." Uran said.  
I opened her door and came in. I found Uran sitting on her bed.  
"Hi, Uran." I said.  
"Hi, Astro." Uran greeted. "Do you need something?"  
"I just wanted to talk." I said.  
"What about?" She asked.  
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." I said.  
"I'm fine." Uran said. "Stop worrying."  
"I know." I said. "That's something else I wanna talk to you about."  
"What?" Uran said.  
"About what happened." I said. "I know that you want to explore the world, but considering what happened, I still want you to be careful. However, at the same time, I get that I should back off a little. I can't watch over you forever, and you need your space and-"  
While I was talking, I noticed that Uran had her hand on the side of her face, deep in thought. Before I could finish, she smiled and interrupted me.  
"I know, Astro." She said. "You're a great brother, too!"  
With that, she jumped in the air and hugged me. I smiled, and hugged her back.  
AN 1: well, that's chapter 24. Tell me what you think.  
AN 2: a couple of things about this chapter. First, the ending was inspired by the ending of an episode of the 2003 version of Astro Boy. You guys should watch it. It was pretty good. Also, this chapter was the last one for this fanfic. Thanks everyone who read it, and thanks to everyone who wrote a review as well!


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